the moonlight
by twieveluv
Summary: Aurora and her best friends go to Paris on springbreak and run into 6 beautiful, pale men. Aurora feels something diff. about the men that her friends don't. The men find them when Ao and her frnds are lost at night, they are led to an old mansion...
1. fireworks display

This is using my same original characters from "like us" and will have nothing to do with Bella or Edward until very much later in the story. This is sort of a prelude to "like us" but is going to be considered an entirely different story. Don't expect to hear anything about E&B because, remember, Tristan and Aurora were together for a year before they met them.

I give you the story of Tristan and Aurora:

The sun was shining into my dorm already, even though it was only 4:30 a.m. It was a green sort of color. I missed the warm yellow sunshine of California. I rolled my head sleepily to the side to look at Jenny, my roommate. She was still sleeping with her mouth open and I heard her breathing come in loud steady gasps. She was having an asthma attack!

"Jenny!" I yelled, waking the two girls on the floor and Victoria who was sleeping on the other side of my bed.

"What the-" Victoria said as I jumped over Jenny's bed to get her fast-acting inhaler. That woke Lily, who was sleeping beside Jenny. Lily sat up and immediately started waking Jenny up and Victoria started to help her. Jordan and Amelia were sitting up, wide-eyed on the floor, half of their bodies still in sleeping bags.

I rushed to the other side of the bed and nearly tripped over Jordan's legs in my haste to get to Jenny with her inhaler. Jenny was awake and her eyes looked at me panicked as I handed it to her. She pressed down on it and we heard her gasp to inhale the medicine it was spraying in her mouth. She coughed after she had inhaled and then shook it and pressed it down again.

Slowly we all sat down on her bed and watched as her breathing returned to normal. Jordan was the first to break the silence.

"Shit, are you okay Jens?" her voice was low and frightened. She had not been Jenny's roommate for all these years, and even then this had only happened on one other occasion.

"Yeah," Jenny said, she looked frustrated at the fact that we were looking at her in a concerned way. "Shit happens, I'll be fine."

She gave us a look as if to dare one of us to ask her if she was _sure_ she was fine. I knew Jenny very well and knew she didn't want to talk about what had just happened. I glared at her for looking angry with us for being concerned. She cast her eyes down when she caught my expression. Jenny and I had grown to be really good friends over the years and she knew when to argue with me, this was not one of those rare times.

"We had better get ready to go soon, when does our plane leave again?" Lily asked to change the subject.

"Seven o'clock, we had better get a move on or _Madame _Charmon will kill us." Victoria said, standing up and grabbing a bag of salon shampoos and my jasmine scented soap and heading out the door without another word. I stood up and walked out after her, knowing her, she would use all my soap that had cost me twenty dollars to have.

She was waiting outside the door for me expectantly. She was my best friend and we were just short of being able to read each others minds.

Victoria did not look like her name at all. She was as tall as me, which was impressive, and had narrow hips and an almost flat chest, but that didn't interfere with her boy meeting abilities. She had short, angled hair that was bright pink except for the chunks that she had re-dyed to be a yellowy sort of blonde. Her face was beautiful and delicate and she had eyes that could turn into lasers when you got in an argument with her. For that reason alone no one but me fought with her on a regular basis and won a fight every now and then. Her favorite color was black and it showed in every outfit she owned. When I had first arrived here she gave my jeans and white tee-shirt one sharp up and down look and decided she hated me. It took one massive argument that I wouldn't back down from a month after moving here that eventually changed her mind about me and we have been inseparable ever since.

"This has been an intense morning," she said as I walked past her, heading towards the showers. She followed at her own pace casually.

"Yeah," I answered, not turning around.

I reached the shower doors and pushed through to see other girls already in there. Steam filled the room and all the talkative gossip stopped as they turned to look at Victoria and me. I felt Victoria stiffen behind me and I knew she had just squared her shoulders as I had done before opening the door.

I felt almost instantly the judgment radiating from them. They started their gossip groups again but I still saw eyes darting to either me or Victoria.

We were the unofficial heads of the pathetic girls-only boarding school and I hated it. I hated the way everyone looked at you for flaws and all the rumors that went around about you- about how you snuck out of your dorm room to meet the neighboring idiots from the Camion Boys Academy. For some reason any rumor about Lily, Jordan, Amelia, Victoria, Jenny or myself got out everyone wanted to know about it, so they all heard every one of them.

We walked over to the corner showers that were unofficially ours and our friends'. I grabbed two towels from the pile and threw one to Victoria.

It was a relief to turn on the water and let it scorch my body and drown out all of the girls' hateful voices. I purposely turned it as hot as it could go and soaked in the sting of the water, not allowing myself the privilege of stepping out of it's burning heat. I stood there as long as I could, taking my self-inflicted punishment I was used to doing every morning. No one ever noticed I did this so I got away with it; it sort of reminded me of my parents in a way. I couldn't explain how I connected the two situations but I did. I stepped out of the water gasping and quickly turned the cold water on too, the water instantly turned to a warm medium.

I reached my hand out of my shower and past Victoria's shower curtain and jerked it suggestively. I instantly felt the shampoo bottle in my hand and closed my fingers around it. I did the same thing when it came time for conditioner and the $20 jasmine soap.

I finished and wrapped the white towel around me and rung out my hair that went to the top of my butt. It was so thick that I wasn't going to have time to dry it. I just twisted it up in a French knot and stepped out of the shower. Victoria was already at a mirror on the other side of the room and all the girls were giving her plenty of room as if she was a venomous snake that would lash out at them any second.

"Where are the others?" I asked her from across the room as I picked up my clothes from the floor. Victoria looked at me in the mirror as four voices answered me from various showers.

I walked over to Victoria and she rolled her eyes at the glancing girls. I laughed at her and headed out the door. I reached my room and threw on a pair of Abercrombie distressed jeans and a black tee-shirt, curtsey of Victoria to get me away from the preppy style she claimed I had.

An hour later everyone was rushing around the dorms and grabbing suit cases. Madame Charmon was shrieking orders to me and my friends that we were late even though it was only 6:00 a.m. We grabbed our passports and rushed to the white van that was waiting outside the school doors. I jumped in the back last and I heard the van door scrape shut. We sped away to the Mellwood, Maryland airport and I boarded the plane with my best friends and our two chaperones.

Madame Charmon and her husband who asked us to call him Jack were the only two adults watching us in a foreign country with a language we were all fluent in. That was one of the reasons we got to go to France, the other was we were all very wealthy and could afford to take our two week spring break vacation in Europe.

The plane trip was uneventful and we had to switch planes only once in a small town in northern France before we got to the Paris Airport. I was so excited I couldn't wait to go to the museums and the river and the open markets. I was ready to lose myself in the slow healthy French lifestyle and the old cobbled roads.

We headed to our hotel immediately to sleep off the plane trip. When I woke up it was to Madame Charmon's squawking voice yelling through Victoria's and my door.

"Get up you girls, there is a firework show going on tonight! It's about to start!" she stopped rapping on our door and a few seconds later I heard her pounding on Lily and Jenny's door right down the hall from us.

"The old hag…" Victoria muttered as she pressed her face into a pillow.

I sat up and jumped on her causing her to scream and effortlessly throw me back onto the floor. I landed on my butt and it hurt a little.

"I want to see the fire works against the Eiffel tower!" I protested. "Come on, tomorrows my birthday," I said, reminding her that I was turning sixteen tomorrow.

"Fine, you ho," she said, sitting up and grabbing some new clothes out of one of her three suit cases. I couldn't blame her, I had brought four. I wasn't planning on leaving anything behind for those girls at Berkley to dig through. I had once caught a girl wearing one of my favorite tops that I had accidentally left in the bathroom one day.

I got up and slipped back into my jeans that I had left in a pile on the floor and threw off the black top. It formed a little black puddle in the corner of the room. I opened up the suitcase I had put my shirts in and searched for the right one. I decided to go with another black top, it looked good with my white-blonde hair and I was anything but against meeting some cute French guys. I knew Victoria was thinking the same thing as she put on a black tube top.

"Planning on getting some action?" I commented, giving her top a pointed look.

She threw her head back and laughed. "Not if you stand next to me Ao(pronounced Ay-oh), I would be lucky to get any guy to look at me with you at my side." She smiled at the glare I was giving her. "Come one girl, you know you're gorgeous why not flaunt it a little?"

I didn't like it when people told me I was attractive. I thought it was a little rude considering the assumption that normally came with being attractive…being stupid. I had struggled to be at the top of my class and my looks didn't matter in that one bit, but all the other girls I beat brushed off my accomplishments with "must have slept with the teacher" or "wonder which guy she got to do her homework this time".

"I don't flaunt it because I don't have to," I said to her with a small smirk, hiding my anger with humor.

She smiled back at me. I had succeeded in making her believe I didn't care. A part of me wished she could have seen right through the dark humor and find the screaming girl within. But she didn't. She turned and headed to our suites bathroom and I followed her.

I brushed mascara on my long lashes and applied a little bit of pale rose pink eye shadow on before taking the large barreled curling iron and attempting to put a little volume into my jet straight hair. I smiled as I looked in the mirror and saw the big loose spirals cascade softly down my back. I laughed as Victoria shook her head playfully, tousling her short flaming flamingo pink hair. Her elfin features looked breathtaking with only a light layer of mascara.

Right then there was another pounding on our door. This time instead of a hard rapping of knuckles it was a loud steady thud of someone's fist banging against the door. I opened it and Lily, Jenny, Jordan and Amelia came into the room. They nearly knocked me off my feet as they marched in heatedly.

"That vulture of a woman is driving me insane! It hasn't even been twenty four hours and I can't stand her, how are we going to stay with her for two weeks?" Jordan was raging.

I closed the door quickly, hoping Madame Charmon or Jack wasn't in the hallway.

"We will just have to sneak off when she isn't looking," Jenny said with an innocent expression.

I smiled and couldn't help but get excited at the thought of being free in Paris with my best friends, the only people still alive who I loved.

Lily gaped at us as all four of us nodded at Jenny. "Are. You. Insane." She whispered breathlessly as if someone could hear us in the hotel suite. "We would get into so much trouble! And she will definitely notice that all of us have gone off somewhere! What if she calls our parents?"

She instantly shut her mouth and I saw five pairs of nervous eyes look at me. I sighed. "It isn't like you can't use the word "parents" in front of me. That was almost five years ago, I have heard the word "parent" in that time frame believe it or not." Once again I used humor to cover pain, they all smiled at me.

I had to remind myself that that was what I really wanted, I wanted them to smile. A part of my mind couldn't help but scream out in pain as they returned the discussion to sneaking away from our chaperones.

"We are going to do it with or without you Lily, it's up to you if you want to stay with the witch the whole day or come with us." Victoria's word was law and I looked at Lily who was having an inner struggle between the rules and peer pressure.

"Everything will be alright Lils," I said in my soothing way and I saw her shoulders relax slightly. "We always get out of trouble; this time will be just like those. They won't call your parents."

She was starting to believe what I was saying. I didn't doubt the strong Victoria and I could get us all out of trouble with a lie that would naturally escape our lips. It was second nature--almost first nature for the both of us to lie to adults. We were very accomplished at it.

"When do we sneak out?" asked Amelia excitedly. Her hazel eyes were now a beautiful green and her smile was huge.

"Not tonight, tomorrow night," said Jordan, she shot me a look. "Tomorrow we are going to have a birthday celebration."

I smiled as they remembered. Once again the knuckles of our teacher rapped on our door. "You girls open the door!" she squawked. Amelia reached out and opened the door to reveal our tall, hook-nosed teacher. "We have to go now. It is going to start in a few minutes." With that she turned around and headed down the hall, not even waiting for us to follow, I started out the room but I felt strong hands grab my shoulders and I was jerked back into the room. I felt my shirt being ripped off.

"Victoria!" I yelled but it was muffled by the fabric. I barley got to look at my friends' bodies that were pushed up against me before more black fabric was pushed over my head.

"Take her bra!" I heard Amelia say and then I felt someone grab at the clasp and I started struggling violently. I was 5'10" but very thin and didn't have a whole lot of muscle. I didn't stand a chance against five other girls. I felt the shirt I was being forced into being pulled over my stomach. Next thing I knew I had to stop struggling because someone had grabbed hold of my bra and pulled it so tight against me I grunted and gasped for air. I was guessing it was Victoria, she took my momentary stillness as an opening to unclasp the bra and she yanked it off.

All of my _friends_ backed away and left me gasping for air and looking down and my body. They had replaced the simple black tee-shirt with a black silk halter top that was open down the entire front and the only thing keeping it on me was a small rhinestone clasp right beneath my fuller chest, nestled right in the middle.

The fabric under it was open and revealed the almost six pack I had done 50 sit ups nightly to get. There was now a definite line separating the muscles on my abdomen and slightly visible lines crossing my stomach horizontally, showing a lot of definition.

"That's your present from me," said Victoria, looking pleased with herself.

"Thanks Vic!" I said, spinning around and watching the split fabric blow away from my abs.

"I knew you would like it, though you put up a fight to put it on!" she said, nodding at me.

"Well I wasn't exactly ready to be jumped," I defended myself.

"Oh I can't wait to see the look on the old hag's face!" Jenny said quietly, she had an evil glint in her eye. Madame Charmon was very old fashioned and conservative. I think it took all of her will power not to yell at us for wearing tight jeans.

"Here," Jordan through me her sports jacket.

Jordan played volleyball, basketball, and ran track. She was the athlete of the bunch. Victoria was the punk rocker and our intimidator. I'll admit, Vic can be scary when she wants to be. Amelia was the genius who would rather be out ditching than be in class, she liked drama and trouble. Jenny was the little hot head that knew everything there was to know about fashion and nail polish and where to get the best manicures and hair cuts.

Lily was the over cautious one who was always against breaking the rules, but she was also a follower and would go with anything we agreed upon. She normally agreed with her best friend Jenny. And I was the orphan, or that was how I categorized myself. I was the girl with the troubled past and an evil aunt who me all the way from California to Maryland.

We walked out the door. Madame Charmon was tapping her foot with her short husband behind her at the top of her stairs. She glanced at us suspiciously. She looked at Victoria and I who were wearing jackets on a warm spring night.

Victoria was still wearing the tube top and I was sure Madame Charmon was not ready for tube tops yet and probably wouldn't be for another twenty years. I knew she would faint at the shirt I was wearing. Jack looked us all over in a creepy way and I looked him in the eyes coldly as his gaze lingered on me.

Madame Charmon turned on her heel without a word and we followed her out of our five star hotel: Hotel De Crillon.

We walked along the narrow cobbled streets as our hotel was conveniently located near the Eiffel tower where the firework show was taking place. A lot of people were already there. I mumbled something to our teacher before grabbing Lily's hand and drawing her to the center of the crowd. I knew the others would follow. When we reached a small gap in the middle I stopped and waited for all my friends to shove their way to Lily and me.

When they reached us I winked at Victoria and we both stripped the jackets immediately.

I caught several glances that darted to my very exposed chest. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a particular group of men who-from a glance-looked to all be around twenty and pretty attractive. I saw them all freeze when we handed our jackets to the shivering Lily and Jenny. They were always cold and it was worth getting a little chilly if we got some attention. Attention was always nice. I smiled at Victoria in a knowing way and jerked my head, ever so slightly, towards my left where I had seen the attractive guys. We had our own crowd/checking out language down pat. She looked over my shoulder and her eyes got very wide. I didn't turn around, controlling myself enough to not look at them. It was incredibly hard considering how big her eyes were.

"What?" I asked her quietly. She never got a chance to answer that question. Someone else answered for her.

"Excuse me," a beautiful, smooth, male voice said from behind me. I fought the urge to spin on my heel as fast as I could. Instead I slowly turned, taking a deep breath of an amazing scent that was filling my senses.

When I looked up I saw a tall man with incredibly pale skin, he had dark chocolate brown hair and dark eyes. Very dark eyes, so dark I couldn't make out what color they were. I noticed all of these details on the most gorgeous face I had ever seen. He was beautiful to say the least. He smiled slightly as I stared at him shamelessly and I realized I hadn't said anything in over a minute.

"Hello," I realized I was speaking English. I was speaking English because he was speaking English. This was going to be perfect. I also realized how close he was to me. He was less than six inches from my body. I took a reluctant step back and his smile got wider. I looked at my friends around me and they were all still staring at the men. _Men,_ I thought. I hadn't even looked at the others yet.

I made a mental note that there was exactly the same number of them as there was us. Six and six. I looked at the other men and realized they were all staring at me intently. All of their six faces were equally beautiful.

I took another step back under their stares and they seemed to get the message and looked at my friends as well. I watched as a dirty blond approached Victoria and her eyes got even bigger. The other guys, who I was guessing were in their early twenties dispersed to my other friends and I knew they were going to go into shock or something. I stepped on Lily's toe as one approached her.

She gasped but her eyes never left the approaching man. I suppose if she gasped that meant she was still breathing. I turned back around to face the beautiful chocolate haired man. He was unexpectedly close again and I took another small step back. His smile got wider and he stepped closer to me again and I was starting to get worried.

That was when he leaned in and put his open mouth close to my face. I froze as he exhaled an unearthly smell that was so addictive I leaned in. Before I could kiss him his lips descended on mine softly. They were cold and hard but still strangely soft. I felt him inhale deeply and his arms slipped around my waist, gently pulling me to him. I was very aware of just how revealed my full chest was as he pushed it against his. One of his hands came up to my face and brushed my long hair behind my shoulder slowly. He moaned as he leaned his head down to my exposed neck and his cool lips softly kissed right beneath my ear. I inhaled his strange scent that I couldn't get enough of. One of his hands was on my lower back keeping me close to him and the other one was on my ribcage and was slowly moving up.

I moaned and that was when I heard that ungodly voice. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING MS. STANTON?"

_Oh no, _I thought. I pushed away from him quickly. I immediately regained my mind when his scent wasn't filling my lungs. I looked at my friends; none of them even looked at Madame Charmon. They were still staring at the separate men that were standing in front of them. None of the men were looking at _them_ though; it seemed that everyone in the entire crowd watching the fireworks was now watching me-except my friends. I looked back at the man I had just been kissing and he was now looking at Madame Charmon with a glare that brought the saying _if looks could kill_ to my mind. His eyes snapped back to mine and in the fireworks light I thought I saw a red glint in them. I stared into his eyes for a long time but didn't see the glint again.

Everyone in the crowd was starting to resume their business and I felt a firm hand close like a vise grip over my upper arm. I turned to see a furious French teacher.

"Madame-" I started but she cut across me, staring with wide eyes at my chest.

"What are you wearing child!" that seemed to bring Victoria back to real life. Her eyes jerked from the god-like creature in front of her back to me.

"Aurora?" she sounded like she was waking up. I stepped away from the beautiful man I had been kissing and Madame Charmon and walked over to her. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the man in front of her. I put her by our chaperones and walked to Jordan. I jerked her awake and continued on from awestruck girl to awestruck girl and pulled them from the beautiful men. The men just watched me as I moved and didn't make a move to stop me. I ushered Madame Charmon-who was now also staring at the men with a look of desire- and my friends away from the center and back in the direction of the Hotel De Chillon.

I looked back at the beautiful man I had kissed and realized I didn't even know his name. He took quick steps towards me and took my hand in his. He flipped it over, exposing the soft white skin of my wrist, and kissed it softly and slowly. He was also inhaling deeply.

"Until next time," he whispered, looking up at me from under his dark long eyelashes. I caught my breath, I was _sure_ I had seen a glint of red.

I felt the vise grip of my teacher once more and I was dragged off. The man stood there watching me and then, when I blinked, he was gone.

Please review! This is like a prelude to "like us" like I said and does not have anything to do with twilight. You don't have to read like us to read this and actually it would be better if you didn't.

Thanx for reading!

twieveluv---Sydney


	2. birthday celebration

_I want everybody to know that I am making this story very much my own and some things and vampire rules will be some what different and stuff like that. I would really appreciate reviews as well and I would like to thank my first reviewer **live4eva**. Thanx chica, you rock!_

"You girls are lucky I don't call your parents to tell them that you were fraternizing with foreign MEN! _Men! _You girls are only sophomores! What are you going to turn into if you stay on this path…"

That was officially when I tuned out. I had heard the "where do you want your life to go?" speech a _few_ times. Victoria and I received it daily it seemed at school.

Victoria turned to me and her lips mouthed Madame Charmon's every word perfectly. I gave her a devilish grin and she returned it. She then glanced past me and gave someone a piercing glare. I had once been on the receiving end of that glare and I knew it to be her "don't mess with me" look. I followed her eyes and saw Madame Charmon's little husband Jack, now looking at the ground. I assumed that was not where he was looking prior to Victoria's behavior.

I glanced back at her and she tore her eyes from him to look at me. She sighed angrily. When we reached our suite Madame Charmon didn't allow the other girls to come into Vic's and my room. Jordan gave our French teacher a look that seemed to surprise her. Jordan then squared her shoulders and walked to her door without a word to anyone, Amelia followed. Jenny and Lily gave me a sad look and I kissed them on the cheeks in the French way to infuriate Madame Charmon ever more and marched into my room. Victoria came in after me and shut the door. She more like slammed it. I heard our French teacher's loud barking complaints through the door and they got quieter as she went down the hall to her own room that _wasn't_ a suite.

I plopped down on the couch and then groaned as I had to get back up and drag my designer suitcase closer. I flipped open the top and drug out a pair of comfy black sweat pants. They were old and worn out which made them very soft. They also smelled very nice because I washed them so often.

I pulled on a bright yellow sports bra over the halter top and pulled the new silk shirt out from under it. I hung it up on one of the gold hangers that was in the closet and went to the large bathroom to remove my make up.

When I came out of the bathroom I saw Victoria sitting on one of the chairs. She seemed to be concentrating on the glass top of the coffee table. I walked to the kitchen of the suite and put on some water to boil. I went to my suitcase and grabbed out a small Tupperware container and took it to the kitchen.

"Those guys were beautiful," she said unexpectedly. Her voice was really quiet and she had turned around in her chair to look at me in the kitchen. She let her arms hang over the back of the chair and rested her chin on top of it.

"Yep," I said, winking at her. "The one that was looking at you was gorgeous."

She couldn't help but smile. "You got to kiss that other guy." She kind of frowned at this. "I think I am going to have to borrow that shirt I bought you."

I tossed my head back and laughed, my long hair tickling my bare back. "You know you wouldn't fit into it."

She grabbed her boobs and a mock scowl came onto her face. "Shut up, that's what plastic surgery is for."

"If that's what you want to do then good luck to you," I said raising an eyebrow at her. I knew she wouldn't be that drastic.

The teapot started to whistle and I walked over to it. I lifted it off the hot surface and the sound died into a low sigh. I grabbed two mugs from one of the cupboards and placed them on the counter.

"Do you think we'll ever see them again?" she asked me and I could hear the eagerness in her voice. She wanted to see them again; I still hadn't made up my mind. They were all beautiful and older than us but I couldn't get the glint of red in his eyes out of my mind.

I placed a tea bag in one of the mugs and filled it with water. I pulled on the string and watched the tea bag bob up and down before sinking to the bottom. I put a spoon in it. I then scooped out some hot chocolate powder from the Tupperware box I had packed and tossed it in the other mug. I could feel Victoria's eyes on me.

"Ao?" she asked again. (Pronounced Ay-oh)

I poured the water into the hot-chocolate powder and stirred it. When the surface no longer had chunks of chocolate at the top I picked up both mugs and handed one to Victoria on my way past her. I walked back into the bathroom and picked up one of the black hair ties. I pulled my hair up into a big bouncing messy bun. I sipped on the hot chocolate in my mug.

I walked back out of the bathroom and saw Victoria stirring her tea. "We'll see them again." She turned around to look at me.

"Took you long enough," she said. "I thought you were having another headache." I got pretty bad headaches. "Why do you think so?"

"Because he said so when he kissed my wrist," I sighed.

Victoria tried to hide a smile by sipping on her tea. "Mhm." She almost choked on her tea to keep herself from laughing at the glare I was giving her.

"Shut up Vic, you were in a trance staring at the one in front of you!" I accused.

That definitely got her to stop laughing. "So," she said shrugging. "I was trying to guess how he would look naked."

That made me pause and she gave me a wolfish smile. "Oh-kay, thanks for sharing," I laughed.

I sat down on my bed and pulled the covers over my legs. She turned on the lamp beside the bed and zipped around to turn off all the lights in the big suite. When only the lamp was giving off light she jumped into the other bed and pulled up her covers like I had.

"I am pretty sure his lower half would be huge, if you know what I mean." She said as she turned off the lamp and set her empty tea mug next to mine.

"That's lovely," I murmured while closing my eyes and taking out my hair band.

"Ao…" she whispered. I wished she would stop talking, I was so tired.

"Hmm…" was all I could manage.

"I love you girl, you're my best friend." She said softly and I could hear sleep entering her voice.

"I love you too, Vic," I said. It took a lot for me to say I loved a person. I wasn't one who offered up love quickly, especially after my parents had died. I had learned you lose people you love. I also didn't admit I was sorry. I stood by my decisions. That was one of the reasons Victoria and I had gotten into a big fight only a month after I started at Berkley Boarding School.

The next morning was terrible. We woke to the thud of Jordan's fist and got an earful of her ranting and ravings before Victoria jumped into the shower. I was left to soothe Jordan. She eventually left our room after several assurances that we were going to sneak out tonight for my birthday. When Victoria finally got out of the shower I jumped in and the water was too cold to scorch myself. I was a little frustrated at Vic for taking away part of my daily routine but got over it as the water turned to almost ice.

I wrapped a towel around my dripping/shivering body and went over to the sink to brush my teeth and apply my scarce make-up. I decided to put on some golden eye shadow and lined my top lid with brown. I twisted my hair into another French knot and decided to let it dry naturally.

I emerged from the bathroom in my towel to see all of my friends in our suite's sitting area. I walked out of the room and over to one of my four suitcases and started to dig through them. I picked a white knee-length peasant skirt and a white off the shoulder top with yellow flowers on it. I thought it looked very hippy and relaxed. I slipped on a pair of straw heels and was ready to go.

I walked out of the room and back into the sitting area. They all greeted me and I sat on Amelia's lap as we awaited Madame Charmon's knuckles to rap on the door. We didn't have to wait long.

Lily opened the door for her and she came into the room looking happy for once. She looked over my skirt and gave me a small smile. Why did I have the sudden urge to go change into a miniskirt and tube top?

"Bonjour mes filles," she said with a wide smile. "J'adore Paris!" She threw her arms out and spun around. She stumbled and fell into Victoria's lap. (French translation: Hello my girls…I love Paris)

Jack came in after her. "That's where she went," he muttered as he yanked her tall stocky frame off of a disgusted Victoria.

"She's been into the Vodka hasn't she?" I had leaned in and smelt her breath when I tried to help Victoria with the weight of our teacher.

Jack gave me a hard look. "I won't ask how you know it was Vodka on her breath if you don't tell your parents about this."

"My parents are dead so you don't have to worry about that," I stated dryly, looking at our drunken teacher. The room had gone very still and the silence was almost palpable.

His eyes lingered on me once again and I felt uncomfortable. "Oh…well…I can trust you girls won't tell anyone if I let you go off on your own today. I can't speak a word of this damned language and I am sure you would all ditch me anyways." He was correct, that was _exactly_ what we would have done. "Just stay relatively close. She says you all are her top students and know the language very well. I am sure you could find your way back. Be back here around…" he checked his watch. "let's say… 5:30 for dinner. Don't be late."

He dragged his drunken wife out of our room and I looked around at all the thrilled faces around me as the heavy door clicked shut.

"Well ladies," I said with a sly grin. "Alone in Paris with 5 lovely gals like yourselves…I am _pretty_ sure we could have a mighty good time." They all laughed as we walked out our door and laced our arms together.

We went from shop to shop and Victoria's hair got a few odd glances. Vic had even tried to get Lily to kiss her so she could mortify an old woman on the street that had given her particularly stern looks. Lily blushed and refused flat out.

Jenny was having trouble controlling herself in Paris. So many names, so many brands, so much money on daddy's credit card. Amelia asked us if we would mind if she shoplifted.

Lily asked her why she would do something like that when she was carrying over 500 dollars in cash on her. We all rolled our eyes and left it up to the patient Jenny to explain the thrill of doing something illegal.

I went into a shop and bought a hot, revealing outfit and had the store send my clothes that I was wearing and other bags back to my hotel room. They would do stuff like that for you when you spent over 1,000 euros in one go. I had bought a white tube top and some faded jean capris that had holes in them.

I had fun by hitting on guys with my right hand girl, Vic. We would give cute ones a look that would make the cockiest guy blush. We laughed as each and every one of them took a double take. Vic always said they were looking at me but I countered by telling her they were staring at her hair.

5:30 had come much too quickly and we all drug our feet up to our hotel floor. We knocked on Madame Charmon's door and it was thrust open almost instantly. I looked in the small, but very nice room and saw Jack looking from us to his wife nervously.

"And what, pray tell," she glared at us. "Gave you all the idea you could leave the hotel without my, or my husband's permission?"

He hadn't told her. That much was obvious. His old droopy eyes locked on mine and they were silently pleading with me. I knew no one was going to say anything unless I did. I was the master liar and they always followed my lead in these situations.

I looked at Jack as we all stood there silently. He was a low, creepy little man who looked at me and my friends funny. I would enjoy seeing him yelled at for doing what he did and trying to leave all the blame on us. Unfortunately I couldn't let that happen. I would have rather taken the blame _myself_ than let someone weaker than me get yelled at by the human medusa.

"We did get your permission," I said to her but looked straight at him. I saw him tense, as if preparing himself. My eyes snapped back to my teacher. "You came into our room this morning and told us you were going to let us go out by ourselves today because you weren't feeling quite yourself." I cocked my head to the side curiously.

Madame Charmon looked worried now. Her eyes darted to each of the girls behind me who I could guess were nodding in unison.

Madame Charmon cleared her throat nervously. "Well…it's a good thing you're back. Go get changed for dinner we will have to leave soon if we have any plans of getting in at a nice restaurant." She seemed to struggle to pick up her brisk squawking manner again.

We all nodded and she shut the door quickly. "Nice one," Jordan said quietly in my ear.

"Thanks," I muttered back.

"Why didn't you just tell her the old creep let us go?" Amelia asked me.

"Did you want to listen to her snipe at him all night? And this way she'll know we all have one up on her, she'll never give us detention again." Victoria grinned evilly. I had had the same thought. I could turn almost any situation to my advantage.

"Wow, you really are good," said Jordan with an appreciative nod.

"If you thought that was good you should see her procrastinate!" Jenny barked out. "She can side-track anybody on this earth, no matter how determined you are to get her to do something."

I gave a sad smile at this. My mom said the same thing when I was little. Foot-rubs were a really good way of getting out of going to bed on time.

We all went to our rooms and slipped on little black dresses. I let down my hair and it was wavy and wild because of the knot it had dried in. It looked really good so I flipped my head over and hair-sprayed it. It fell over my bare shoulders and I decided to add a little glow to my snowy skin by adding a bit of pale pink rose colored shimmer on my collar bones and shoulders.

I slipped on heels and headed out the door. That night we ate at a Stella Maris, it was very fancy and the food was incredible. We didn't eat very much because we were all planning on sneaking out tonight and I wanted to have a lot of room for cake and desserts and wanted to be comfortable in out tight jeans.

Madame Charmon didn't ask us about only eating half of our food even though I knew the waiters would find it rude. She was pretty sure we had seen her drunk and wanted on our good side. I could tell, not because she was saying nice things to us, but the lack of her rude reprimanding comments.

We walked back to the hotel and I was bubbling on the inside. Jordan, Amelia, Victoria and I were all very calm on the exterior but Jenny and Lily were grinning like the village idiots. I saw Jordan give them several reproachful looks but it took Victoria's eyes to wipe the smiles off their faces.

"Goodnight girls," Madame Charmon yawned and we all nodded wearily, hamming it up a bit, and headed to our separate rooms.

"When do we leave?" I asked Vic.

"In an hour. We have to get ready first." She whispered as we shut the door. We ran to the bathroom and plugged in the curling irons and set out the make up.

I took the eye liner pencil and made a very thin line of black around my eyes. I brushed on the mascara that made my eyelashes look extremely long and took very dark gray eye shadow and brushed it over my large eyelid.

The combination of black and smoky gray made my steel-blue eyes look captivating and I smiled while applying clear lip glossy that made my lips look wet and delicious. With my hair, I left it down and did the same large spirals as I had the night before. The soft bouncing curls cascaded down my back and tickled my bare shoulders and arms and it made me shiver.

I then changed back into the outfit I had bought earlier: the white tube top and the faded holey jean capris. I slipped on some strappy hot pink stilettos that made my legs look even longer and leaner. I threw my make-up and shampoo bags into one of my suitcase and zipped them all shut.

Vic had curled her hair out and she now had an 80's rock star look going for her. She looked great. She also had gone out of her element with dark winged eyeliner that made her look incredibly feline. I laughed as she growled at me. We opened our door and tiptoed down the still lit-up hallway to Jenny and Lily's room. They opened the door quietly and Lily looked even more excited and I think Jen was restraining herself from laughing like a maniac. We tiptoed to the "serious ones" room and it was a relief to have Jordan and Amelia looking calm instead of grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you two ready?" Vic asked them.

"Duh," they said together.

We tiptoed to the elevator and pressed the down button. When the doors closed we all visibly relaxed. We weren't going to get caught. We were home free! When the elevator doors opened we all strutted out of it, feeling the thrill of the possibility of getting in trouble.

"Where are we going?" asked Lily. She appeared to have already dismissed her former worries.

"To any bar we can find!" answered Amelia with a relish of her arms. We all threw our heads back and laughed. The bellman gave us a slow up and down look and tipped his hat at us. Jenny pretended to curtsey.

We walked in the dark streets for quite a while, looking for a good place to go. We all had pointed at various pubs we saw but one of us always had a problem with it: too old, too trashy, too wild. Finally we came across a very modern looking building with black doors that were held open by two very large men. We could see the strobe lights and hear the music pounding from within.

"Bonjour," I said to the guard and attempted to walk past. I felt a hand wrap around my thin arm and said "Shit," under my breath. I was turned around to look up at a really tall guard.

"You're too young," he said with accented English. Was it that obvious where we were from?

"Oh come on now," I said, flashing him a smile I knew worked on all men. "Are you really gonna send me away?" He gave me a slow lazy smile.

"How old are you?" his accent was very present.

"She's sixteen tonight," answered Lily, she was looking very nervous again.

"We're going to have a celebration tonight," Vic said. I don't know what I would have done without her. She was always on the same level as I was.

"I'll bet you are," he said with the same smile still on. He still hadn't released my arm.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't want to miss getting her wasted," Jordan said as she pushed me into the club and the guy reluctantly let go of my arm.

"You shouldn't do that to all the guys you meet," said Victoria. "Some of 'um seem to have trouble letting you go." It was a warning in the form of humor but I took note of it.

In the club I didn't drink at all. I was never really into drinking and had felt it's affects before and wasn't too eager to repeat my mistake. Instead I danced. Victoria and I had had guys yanking us away from each other the whole night but we always found each other after every song. We were exhausted after two hours and went to find the other girls. Lily had succumbed to peer pressure and I saw several empty shots in front of her and Amelia. Amelia was smoking a cigarette and talking to a bar tender. Lily on the other hand had--unsurprisingly--turned out to be a light-weight. She was hanging on the neck of some guy that looked just as slammed as her.

"I think you've had enough, Lils," Victoria said as she pulled Lily off the guy's neck. Lily groaned and reached out to the man who reached out to her. He reached back and I helped Vic pull Lily back.

"Awww…come on guys," she slurred, trying to break our hold.

"She's definitely wasted," Victoria said, raising her eyebrow and wrinkling her nose as Lily's breath hit us. She had had tequila. _Lovely._

We found Jordan and she grabbed Amelia. I darted into the dancing bodies to find Jenny. I think she had had too much to drink too. She was in the process of taking her shirt off.

"Come on Jenny!" I yelled over the music. Someone's hand closed over my wrist I turned around to see a drunk guy pulling me towards him. He looked like he was built to be a linebacker he was so muscular. _Oh Shit,_ was my only thought. I wrapped my hand around Jen's arm and pulled her towards the edge of the crowd and pushed her towards Victoria who had Lily hanging on her shoulders. Victoria caught her arm and pulled her out of the crowd. The guy who was still attached to my wrist yanked me close and I stifled an enraged groan. I stepped on his toe hard and leaped away before he could profess.

I slung Jen's arm around my shoulders and shifted her weight so I could help her walk.

"That was really fun guys," Lily said cheerfully from behind me as we walked out the doors. I felt the one guard's eyes rack over my body and fought back a gag.

"You had a little too much fun, Lils," said Jordan sternly. "You knew you couldn't take that much booze and you still tried. I know you're going to have one of the worst headaches known to mankind in the morning."

I don't think Lily comprehended anything Jordan said as we continued walking. I slowly realized these streets didn't look familiar. Maybe it was the black of the night but I didn't recognize anything. I stopped walking and Jenny jerked back as her slow reactions kicked in. I heard the others stop behind me. I turned my head from side to side, looking for anything that would hint at the direction of our hotel.

"Does anybody know how to get back?" said Amelia, echoing my thoughts.

"Oh. My. Eff-ing. Gosh." said Jenny slowly. "We don't have any clue where we are, do we?"

None of us felt it was necessary to answer. We all knew we were lost.

"This is just fabulous," I heard Vic growl.

"Let's go sit down over there," said Jordan. I saw Jordan start over to a deserted café with patio tables out front. Come to think of it, the whole street was deserted. There was no one to even ask for directions to the Hotel De Crillon.

I dragged Jenny over to the table and dumped her carefully into a chair. Victoria did the same with Lily. The rest of us sat down. I was just about to propose a plan to go down streets with lights and try to find some sort of cab when Jen gripped my wrist, hard.

She was staring behind me and I turned to see the 6 beautiful pale men approaching us slowly.

_**Please Review! It means a lot and I swear if I get quite a few I will have the next chap up tomorrow night! Thanx so much! **_

_**Sydney **_


	3. even to hell

_This is going to vary from the rules of vampires that was in Twilight. I am the author and am not using any of Twilights characters or places or anything. This is a completely different story that I just had to post because I wanted others to know Tristan and Aurora's past. This was the original story that was in my head after reading Twilight and this is a completely original story._

_Also I would just like to say thanks to my friend Em who is probably screaming her head off cheerily as she reads her name on the internet. Lol. I just wanted to say that, Em, I created Amelia after ya and I hope you like her. -- You probably will considering that is your personality and all. Lily is also based off of a friend of mine. And Victoria…well, Vic is a hell of a lot like me (minus the pink hair and black clothing). Lol. _

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Summary: Can't find hotel. Jenny and Lily slammed. Sit down at deserted café on deserted street and the six pale beautiful men are approaching. This begins with Tristan.

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_**CHAPTER PROLOGUE:**_

Tristan sat in a large chair in his mansion. Most vampires didn't have homes but he had wanted one, so he bought it. He was pretending to listen in to the other members of his coven's quiet conversation but really he was thinking about the things he had spoke about earlier that day. He had just returned from a meeting with his only superior…Victor. Victor and he had gone over strategies and planned an attack against the neighboring rival covens that were led by Marcus. Tristan was to lead the attack, as it was sure to be a terrible battle. They were planning on hitting the strongest of the covens they were fighting against. Only with Tristan there could they guarantee a victory.

His thoughts snapped from the ongoing war between vampires to the current discussion taking place around him as he heard Lane talk about kissing a _human_.

"She was so soft," he said with an evil smile as all the other vampires looked at him with what appeared to Tristan to be jealousy. "And so warm, she resisted slightly, that made an interesting change. I was getting bored with all the push-overs we normally hunt."

"How come you get her?" said Kyle, the youngest of the vampires. Tristan had only turned him 3 years ago. One night Tristan had watched as Kyle got in a fight and he was outnumbered. After Kyle had won Tristan took him.

He had been on the lookout for good fighters to join his coven--which was the strongest and most lethal of all the covens fighting under Victor. To get into Tristan's coven you had to challenge its previous members and if you won you earned the position of the vampire you had just defeated.

Tristan was second in command right under Victor and had earned himself the reputation of a killer. He was undefeatable. When Tristan fought every cell in his body sung with the ecstasy of death. His senses detected the slightest movements and he seemed to know when and how he was going to be attacked. He loved every second of the fights; it was the only time he got to strip himself of his shell and do what he was created to do.

"Because I rank higher than you," growled Lane.

"Do you want to prove that?" Kyle stood up, his arms at his side as his hands turned to fists, making his biceps bulge.

"You think you can beat me?" Lane said with a small smile as he stood as well. There was a reason Lane was ranked right under Tristan. Tristan had taken him in the 1930's and he had been an amazing boxer.

Philip stood too then. Tristan found it amusing they were actually going to fight over a human. Cattle-like beings… all alike.

"The kid can't take you but I am sure I can," said Philip, glaring at Lane. Philip was ranked right under Lane in the unofficial order.

This turned both Lane and Kyle against Philip and Thomas soon came to his brother's aid but added that he would fight any of them. Soon they were all bickering like children and growling and snarling like vampires on the hunt.

Lane was yelling at Philip. Ivan was snarling at Gideon, and Thomas was about to fight Kyle.

"Enough," Tristan whispered. The room went silent, and Tristan continued quietly. He didn't even look at them as he spoke. "You are fighting over a human girl. You are degrading yourselves."

They all looked upon Tristan with fear and apprehension. Finally Kyle spoke and Tristan could hear the slight tremble behind his words.

"You didn't see her, Tristan," Tristan's face jerked up to look Kyle in the eyes and Kyle bravely met his gaze. "She is more beautiful than any vampire woman I have ever met, and she smells like Lily of the Valley mixed with Jasmine soap." Kyle sounded like a dreamy idiot and Tristan mentally lowered his rank before he saw the other men nodding at what he had said.

His red eyes judged all of their serious expressions and Tristan stood up and walked towards the door. He stopped in the doorway with his back to them. "Bring her back to the house then, I wish to see this human girl."

He continued out the door and he heard their quiet conversation as he reached the foot of the stairs. It was more like an argument at first.

"Fuck," Lane said. "Now none of us get her. If we bring her back Tristan will take her. Nice job kid."

Kyle growled in response.

"_If_ we bring her back," said Thomas suggestively. "We can bring one of her friends to him and "take" her on the way here."

"I'm not sure I want to "take" her. I could make her one of us. Can you imagine what she would look like after the change?" said Lane.

That was when Tristan decided to enter the room again. It was his responsibility and task to change humans to vampires in this coven and Lane or anyone else didn't have the right to.

"You will not change anyone." He growled and they all took a step back with "oh fuck" faces. "You will bring this insignificant girl to me and then you can have her. If she doesn't walk through those doors tonight I will assume you have changed her, and that would not be a good idea." He made it so the threat was very clear in his voice. He was no more interested in this human than he was any other human, but he would not let them change her.

That was when the doorbell rang and the sound boomed throughout the mansion, on the wood floors and empty rooms. Tristan froze; no one knew where the house was except for the 6 men that had just been arguing. Not even Victor was aware he had one. That was Tristan's rule and no one broke his rules. It was essential that not even partner coven's members knew where his house was. He didn't trust them enough to give them that kind of personal information they could turn over to Markus. He gave the members of his coven a look and they nodded and became tense and started walking towards the door. The doorbell rang again and Thomas thrust open the door and stepped back in a blink of an eye as Tristan and the others took fighting stances.

On the other side of the door was a skinny young man in a suit with pamphlets in his hands. A human. They all relaxed and Tristan looked at his watch. It was only 3:00 p.m.

Kyle walked up to the scared looking man who had knocked on the door full of muscular six foot and over men that looked like they wanted to hurt him.

"Leave," Kyle said in a hoarse whisper. The man did just that without a word.

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_**CHAPTER 3:**_

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_I dragged Jenny over to the table and dumped her carefully into a chair. Victoria did the same with Lily. The rest of us sat down. I was just about to propose a plan to go down streets with lights and try to find some sort of cab when Jen gripped my wrist, hard._

_She was staring behind me and I turned to see the 6 beautiful pale men approaching us slowly._

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"Good evening," was what the beautiful and pale chocolate haired man said as he pulled a chair over to our table and sat between Jenny and me. I hadn't really noticed how big these guys were the first time I met them. They were too beautiful to really notice anything else but their faces. When he had stood before me before sitting I realized he was definitely over six foot and had very broad shoulders. The other five men were built very similar.

My blood was rushing to my head. I didn't know how these men had found us but they had. I released the breath I had been holding since Jenny had grabbed my arm. His smile grew wide.

"Hey," I heard Lily say. The man's eyes didn't shift from mine. He didn't even acknowledge her.

"Are you lost?" a blonde haired man asked me, his eyes were also dark and I wavered under his intense gaze.

"Ummm…" was all I could manage and my voice shook slightly. Their smiles grew even wider.

My breathing was coming faster out of fear and I stood up quickly and tried to reach for Jenny. I wanted to leave. I had accidentally come in close contact with the chocolate haired man because I stupidly reached over him to grab my friend. My heart thudded against my chest as his arm quickly wrapped around my waist and I was pulled onto his lap. I felt like crying from fear and desperation.

I knew we were all in deep trouble but that didn't stop me from releasing my anxiety when his sweet breath filled my lungs. I shivered as his cool fingers traced down my bare arm. He put his other hand under my chin and drew my lips to his once again. I heard a growling sound. His cold lips tried to part mine and my mind kicked back in and I pushed away from him and stood up from his lap.

His smile was even wider as I looked down at him. I backed up a few steps and bumped into something cold and solid. I turned to see another beautiful man with light blonde hair that was only a few shades darker than mine. He brushed my hair out of my face gently and I didn't want to leave him but a big part of me knew I should run. I heard a loud snarling sound come from behind me and turned around to see the man I had kissed twice now giving the blonde man a look I wanted to step away from. He looked terrifying.

"You don't want to fight me, Gideon," he said, not in the voice I had heard before. This voice was low and dark and full of malice. I really did step away from that. I would have run but all of my friends were still sitting and staring at the men. They didn't seem to fear anything at all. Couldn't they tell there was something different about these men?

"Lane," _so that was his name…_ "We have to bring her back." This came from a man with black curly hair that had been with Jordan on the night of the fireworks display.

Lane looked extremely frustrated about this. His lips set into a scowl. "I know that Thomas."

"Back where?" asked Jenny, politely curious. Her voice didn't sound like she had a care in the world where we were going and I tried to catch her eye; to plead with her to come back to me, to return to her normal clothes-loving self.

"Victoria?" I asked quietly. I was almost to tears at the thought of her not being on my side anymore. I wanted to speak with the real Vic and to hear her remarks that made me blush and yell at her. I wanted her to tell me to shut up or anything, just something.

She didn't say a word, she was looking into a dirty-blondes eyes. I don't even think she heard me.

Victoria seemed to come back a little after I said her name again, louder this time. She finally looked at me and then back to the dirty-blonde man. "Can you tell us how to get to our hotel?" Victoria asked, she looked disappointed.

I smiled at her like a madman. Vic was back, she might not be happy about it, but she was back.

"Of course," said the dirty-blonde man, he stood and took her hand in his. The other 5 men stood as well and guided my friends. We started walking; I had no idea where we were going. We walked for close to 30 minutes and all the men formally introduced themselves, then the rest of the time we were in almost complete silence except for my friends' random giggles and Lily and Jenny had to be called to attention every now and then when they wondered off, staggering slightly.

We hadn't been near houses for about 20 minutes. The French countryside was surrounding us and I knew we were not going to return to the hotel. I suppose I knew that from the moment they agreed to take us back. I would have protested but I doubted that would have got me anywhere. My friends couldn't help me now and I couldn't fight these men on my own.

I noticed a huge mansion in front of us. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was beautiful to say the least and I wanted to look inside of it. I loved architecture and I was sure I could find many beautiful details in this house fit for Gods. We started walking down the twisted stone walkway that led to the house. I felt firm hands descend on my shoulders and I was almost forced to walk through the door by Lane.

My heart was pounding and a hard lump was forming in my throat. We were in very deep trouble. If I didn't love and care for my friends, the only family I had left, I would have ran as fast as I could away from the beautiful mansion.

We walked into a beautiful foyer with dark wooden floors. The ceilings were vaulted and beams ran across it.

"Let's get this over with," said a beautiful man whose name was Ivan. He was the one that Amelia couldn't keep her eyes off of. _Get what over with,_ I thought with a shot of fear. I was half led--half forced through French doors. My friends went in front of me in a dream like state. Even Victoria, who had come back for me, had returned to her trance-like state. I wouldn't leave them here when they were like this with the strange men.

When I followed my friends I was flocked by Lane and Philip: the dirty blonde Victoria liked. I guess it was incase I had decided to run; I doubted I could get far even if I tried.

I resigned myself to whatever fate my friends would meet. I had suffered a lot of pain from a very young age and the depression that would follow wasn't new to me.

When I walked in the room my attention was caught by a grand piano. What next caught my eye was a large leather chair. In that chair was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He _was_ beautiful but every inch of his face was masculine. He had a strong jaw and angled cheekbones and hollowed cheeks. He had dark blonde hair that grew to right below his ears with bright blonde highlights that were scattered through it and his eyes…his eyes were large and the flickering of firelight off them made them dance. His beautiful sculpted lips were parted slightly and I recognized his eyes appeared so large because they were wide. His expression was surprised.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I tried to memorize every slope and angle of the earthbound angel's face. He looked back at me with the same fascination. I knew that look. Lane took my wrist and pulled me back out of the room and I saw all of my friends sit around the God-like creation in the chair. They were staring up at him with their mouths open and we retained eye contact until I was swept out of the room completely.

I was so amazed at what I had just seen to even comprehend I was walking, let alone being led by five men.

We reached another large room with furniture and my brain was starting to kick back into place. They were speaking French and I was catching every word they were saying, though they didn't know it. The words definitely didn't make me at ease.

"Now we must decide who gets her," said Philip.

I didn't like the sound of that and my eyes flickered to the door. I would at least _try_ to escape, not sit here like a petrified moron.

"I do," said Lane in a voice lined with authority.

Kyle growled and gave him a challenging gesture by rolling his muscled broad shoulders.

Lane, the most intent watcher now turned his attention to Kyle and I took my opportunity and bolted for the door. I knew I was fast so I thought I had a shot to make it out of the room at least. I was wrong. I got about a foot from the door and hands clutched my hips, I almost had whiplash I was drawn into someone's arms to fast.

"That was a good try," a sinister voice on the edge of laughter said into my ear. It was Lane's voice. _Damn it._ His seductive scent was already filling my lungs. "I didn't know you spoke French. Maybe I will change you, something like you can't go to waste."

I heard throaty laughs from behind me.

I glared at the wall, furious that I had no say in what was going to happen to me. I didn't stand a chance against 5 of my best friends, how was I supposed to fight off 6 huge guys in their twenties? I wasn't.

That was when I heard the enchanting voice, smooth and low and pure. I knew who it belonged to before I even lifted my head to look.

"I get the prize of the evening boys." I sensed every one of them stiffen. I was placed back on the ground gently and I looked up to see the gorgeous man leaning casually against the side of the doorframe. He was giving the men around me a hard look. He was intimidating to say the least. He was the largest and tallest one in the room and had extremely broad shoulders and a loose tee-shirt that hinted at a sculpted chest. He would have been breathtaking if he hadn't have looked so terrifying. He was leaning casually but he looked as if he could pounce at any second. My eyes raked him over, taking in the muscled arms and the large hands.

I was distracted from my gazing as my friends filed in the room. A large part of me had hoped they had run screaming from the mansion. The men walked past me and went to them, they went and sat in various couples, except for Lane, he looked ready to murder something purely out of fury.

The gorgeous man shrugged off the doorframe and started walking towards me slowly. I was frozen in place, I couldn't have run even if I wanted to--which I didn't. His eyes were locked on mine the entire duration of his short walk, making my heart flutter and a strange sensation rip through my stomach. I held his gaze but couldn't keep from noticing he was very tall. He was at least 6'8" maybe 6'9". He had to be part of the NBA or NFL or something. My mind quickly figured out that that was why he had a mansion…he must be a pro-athlete. I stared into his eyes for what seemed to be the longest and shortest time of my life.

Then I heard her scream. "Ao!"

_Victoria!_

I took a step to the side quickly so I could see around Tristan. What I saw made my breath catch and me to freeze. I saw Philip holding my best friend to his body as he leaned across her and had his face firmly pressed into her neck. Victoria's eyes were wide and bulging out of fear and I couldn't breathe as I watched her breaths get shallower and shallower. I watched her hands that had been clawing at Philips back reluctantly relax and then slide off and away from him. They dropped with the softest _thud_ onto the couch she had been sitting on. My eyes snapped from couple to couple, dying friend to dying friend. Amelia was the last to die and on her last show of inner strength I saw her force her hand to lift from Ivan's back and reach out to me. "Aurora…" she whispered, her eyes pleading with me. Her arm took an eternity to fall, even though it was a swift fluid movement. I wanted to catch it and hold her hand and beg for her to come back.

I stepped back to where I had been standing and looked up at what I had once considered an angel and I now knew to be a vampire. I had read enough books and watched enough horror movies to make that guess.

I squared my shoulders and looked him in the eye. I wasn't going to cry. I was too furious. I reached out to him and I grabbed his right wrist and jerked his hand to my waist. He didn't resist but his brow furrowed, as if confused at what I was doing. I grabbed his left wrist and put it on the right side of my neck and swept my hair away from the left side of it. I watched as realization dawned on him. His eyes darted to mine, he looked horrified. I glared at him as I tilted my head slightly towards my right. I never broke eye contact, even when he looked away I gazed at his face until his eyes returned to mine. His eyes looked sad. He blinked them then and they went a beautiful aqua blue color.

He looked at me and his eyes grew very wide. He blinked again and they returned to the red I saw clearly now.

I heard Lane's voice after what seemed like an eternity of waiting for my death. "Finish her or I will Tristan," his voice was hateful and made me shiver. The other vampires were standing by the bodies of my best friends. I looked past Tristan to the couch where Victoria, the best friend this world had given me, laid motionless. Her eyes were glazed over as she stared unseeingly up at the ceiling. Even her flaming pink hair looked dull without her life and spirit to brighten it. I would never see the devilish grin cross her face again. Victoria was never going to speak or glare or laugh ever. I looked at Jenny and remembered how she had always been so beautiful. She was someone life radiated from and had a smile that could brighten your day. I would never go to her to listen to my problems again. Amelia, who had always been so strong, it still amazed me that our rock--my support system could die. Jordan, the hot tempered pistol, was never going to go off again. Then there was Lily… Lily hadn't even wanted to come out with us tonight.

I was going to die tonight. I wanted to follow my friends, the only real family I had, anywhere they went--even to hell.

The next thing I knew I was in the air. I was slung over this Tristan's shoulder. In a matter of seconds he set me on a bed. He was staring at me like his life depended on it. He raised his hand to my face slowly. His fingers were like ice and I gasped quietly as I stared into his eyes. I reached my hand up to my face and placed it on top of his. I was holding his hand to my cheek. I watched as he closed his eyes and a small sad smile formed on his beautiful lips. Then his hand was gone and the door slammed shut behind him. I looked around the room. _Where am I?_ I thought. Then I heard yelling and then snarling. The sounds were muffled slightly but I caught every horrific sound. I could hear the fight had moved outside. I presumed the backyard. I don't think it would have mattered either way; there weren't any houses within a 20 minute walking distance. I heard a keening that made me cringe. There were terrible noises going on outside and I could only assume they were from the vampires. There was snarling, yelping, screaming and growling. They were not human noises, that I was positive of.

I went to the window quickly, my brain on autopilot and flipped back the latch. I used all my strength to thrust the window up but it wouldn't budge an inch.

Suddenly the noises stopped entirely and the door swung open seconds later to reveal the large muscled man who I had found out was called Tristan, covered in blood. I stepped away from the window instantly and yelped as I toppled over backwards in my haste to look like I wasn't attempting escape. I stood myself up quickly.

He gave me a wicked grin and then stepped across the room and disappeared through a door that was on the left wall. I returned to the window the instant the other door clicked shut. I shoved my weight against it several times and it still wouldn't move an inch either way. I returned to the bed and sat on it. I resigned myself to whatever was going to happen to me now.

My mind wondered back to the images of my best friends' lifeless bodies. The image of Amelia reaching out to me; her eyes begged me to do something, to help her. But I didn't. I had stood there and watched them die. _Victoria isn't going to come back…_ The thought echoed in my mind a million times but I still couldn't grasp it. I gritted me teeth and told myself to accept it. I knew they were dead but I couldn't grasp that. None of them are coming back. I felt the tears running down my face and I didn't attempt to wipe them away.

The other door opened and in the doorway stood Tristan. His hair was wet and he had new clothes on and wasn't covered in blood anymore. He looked at my face and seemed to be studying me. He took a step closer and I hastily hopped off of the bed and took several backwards steps away from it. I didn't want to give him any ideas.

He stopped walking towards me. He looked me dead on in the eyes and his angelic face looked serious. He didn't say anything, just stood there like a roman statue. After a long silent minute I walked forward and sat on the bed again. I never took my eyes from him.

He started to advance again and my breathing started to get deeper. He paused mid-stride and looked at my face and raised an eyebrow. I didn't say anything and he completed the step. After the first cautious movements he had finally reached me. He kneeled on the ground before me and looked up into my face. I wasn't looking at him anymore; I had opted for my intertwined fingers.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered softly in his deep smooth voice. He lifted my chin slightly and my eyes met his. They were the color of garnets.

I stopped crying and swallowed the lump in my throat. I nodded slowly to tell him I understood. His thumbs wiped away the tears from my cheeks. He blinked his eyes and they returned to the aqua color.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly and then I was alone in the room.

**_Please review! _** Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Your support is really appreciated as I try to write my own story and create the characters up all on my own.

Sydney


	4. sixty

_A/N: This is going to have some sexual content and if you don't want to read that then I suggest you skip a part of the story._

_This is my own story and does not have anything from Twilight in it. This story is going to vary from the Twilight on the rules of vampires. Laterz. Syd._

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I woke up to the sound of rain hitting glass. I opened my eyes and my heart sank as I realized I was in the same room as last night. I was still at the mansion in the French countryside. I sat up and surveyed my surroundings.

I was the only one in the room and I silently thanked God for that. I saw Victoria's and my seven suitcases on the floor in the middle of the room and my heart dropped again. I pushed back the grief before it overwhelmed me. I got out of the bed and walked over to the suitcases. My mind was on autopilot as I grabbed the plastic bag with my shampoos, soaps and cleansers.

I walked to the other door Tristan had disappeared behind last night and pushed it open. I looked in on a large bathroom. I sighed and walked over to the glass shower. I turned on the water and instead of having it burn me I turned on only the cold water. I sat on the floor of the shower and let my body convulse in shivers as I cried quietly. I stifled all sobs but tears were running down my cheeks. Lukewarm tears that seemed almost warm compared to my shivering body. I stopped the tears too and stood up slowly and turned on the hot water. I killed the lump that had formed in my throat with a few gulps of water.

I took out of the bag my salon shampoo and conditioner. I would have run out of conditioner within the week, I had to use so much to make my long hair manageable. I used the jasmine soap I feared Victoria would use up to scrub my skin. I hated my skin; it was still warm when everyone else's in my life was forever cold. I rinsed off the soap and grabbed a fluffy deep purple towel that was on the towel rack. I dried off quickly and wrapped the towel around me as I reached for another towel. I used the other towel to soak up the water in my hair. I went to the sink and looked in the mirror. Makeup was running down my face from tears and the steam of the shower.

I reached into the bag again and took out my cleanser. I was forcing my body to go through the routines of daily life. _I won't cry from now on_, I promised myself. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I applied more makeup in the way I knew made me look my best. I ran the black eyeliner in a thin line around my eyes and brushed on some pale pink eye shadow. I combed my eyelashes with the black brush as the mascara smoothed on my eyelashes making them curl and look longer. My hair was already starting to air dry and become fluffier.

I walked back into the bedroom with the towel wrapped around me. I started towards my suitcases and opened one and threw on a pair of violet lace panties and a bra. I reached for a yellow shirt, then stopped. I turned and started walking to Victoria's suitcases. I didn't care how they got there or why. I opened her black suitcase and saw even more black. I pulled on one of her many black tee-shirts and threw on a pair of dark camouflage pants. I slipped on her black flip-flops that were also my size. We always exchanged clothes. I wanted to wear her things so she could live on in a way, I guess. I sighed and forced the pain even deeper down and away from the surface. I then opened the door I had come through last night when Tristan carried me to this room.

I pushed my head through the wide crack I had made and looked both ways, expecting to see him at any second. When I didn't I stepped into the hallway and went down the stairs as quietly as I could. I drifted from room to room, looking for the kitchen. I finally found it. I opened all the drawers in search of something specific. All the drawers were empty. Then I drifted to what I assumed was the dining room. There was a large table but no chairs.

On the table I found the perfect things to do the job. There was a piece of black cloth lying on the table and on top of it were half a dozen beautiful silver daggers. They were all positioned so that the razor sharp tips were pointing to the center. It formed a disproportioned sun shape. I took a deep breath as I picked up the one nearest to me. I placed the flat of the shiny blade to my wrist. I stared at the white flesh and took a deep breath.

"What are you planning on doing with my knife?" came the smooth deep voice.

I turned around surprised. My eyes fell on the most beautiful man I had ever seen, again. His eyes were intent and staring into mine. He was standing in the doorway and he almost took up the space entirely. His large threatening arms were crossed over his evidently muscular chest. He was in front of me in an instant and he took the knife from me.

I glared at him and reached for another one. He threw the first knife and it made a _thud_ as it sunk into the wooden wall behind me. He then took the new knife from me and he also threw it into the wall. I had already reached for the next one by that time and almost had it pressed to my wrist before he could take it. The pattern continued like that: I grab a dagger, try to get it to my wrist; he takes dagger and throws into wall--until there were no more knives.

I glared up into his face and walked away from him to the wall he had thrown them into. The hilts of the knives formed a perfect circle in the dark wood. The daggers were buried so far into the wood none of the blade was even showing. I didn't even try to get them out. I turned around and glared at him again. His face was dark as he stared back into my eyes. I was mad but I still couldn't help but notice he looked extremely attractive in the black shirt he was wearing. _Stop it! _I scolded myself. I stormed off into the kitchen to check the drawers again. I would use a spoon if I had to. I felt him follow me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, but not from fear.

"I'm not going to let you kill yourself," he said, he sounded angry. I kept marching on. "If I was planning on letting you die I wouldn't have killed my entire coven last night." That got my attention. I spun on my heel. He certainly looked angry. I took a few steps back from him and he studied me.

"You killed them?" my voice sounded scared, even to me.

He took a step back from me and his eyes looked sad. I took a step towards him. I didn't want him to be sad, even though I didn't have very many feelings left I still felt sympathy for him.

He wasn't going to answer my question, that much was obvious. I don't even think he meant to let it slip that he had harmed them at all. I would have guessed though. I wasn't stupid; he came in my room covered in blood last night. I looked into his sad eyes that seemed to plead with me for something. I had an overwhelming urge to reach up and touch his face. I didn't fight it. I reached out to him as our eyes locked and it seemed that his crimson irises could see me. The real me I had hoped so many times that Victoria could see.

His skin was cold and perfect. It was like the marble of a ballroom floor. I let my hand rest on his cheek. He seemed to be looking every inch of my face over and I couldn't help but take another step closer to him. Our bodies lightly touched and I could feel his breathing becoming erratic. I let my hand drop from his face and took a step back. His eyes were alive with desire and I watched from a distance as he fought through it to regain his mind again.

We stood there in silence; staring at each other. We were basking in a feeling, a sensation I couldn't name. Finally he broke it and looked away from me. I gasped as I drew in a ragged breath.

"Are you hungry?" he asked me. He was looking over my head and I was looking at the ground.

"No," I said.

His eyes shot back to my face, seeking mine. I kept looking at the ground. His large hand wrapped around my wrist and I was being dragged. I dug my heels in but I didn't really stand a chance. I was dragged to the front door and out onto the large porch. It wasn't raining anymore. In front of the house was a black 2006 Mustang convertible. These were new, very new, it wasn't even 2006 yet…how did he get this? He noticed my fascination and took the opportunity to pick me up.

I kicked and writhed in protest. He drew out some keys from his pocket as he effortlessly held me with one arm and hit a button. The cloth roof whirred down and I was placed in the passenger seat. A thought occurred to me.

"You're American?" I asked as he hopped over the door and landed in the driver's seat.

"How did you guess?" he asked, though he really didn't sound that interested. He started up the car and it hummed. We pulled out onto the dirt road we had walked on for twenty minutes last night. He drove fast but not as fast as I would have driven the American sports car.

"Your voice," I said simply and he looked at me and smiled. "Where are we going?" I asked and he just shrugged his massive shoulders.

We hit the Paris streets quickly and he parked the car. Then he took my wrist and led me into an open market. There was food everywhere. I noticed how most people stopped and starred at us. I didn't blame them, there was a beautiful 6'9" man leading around a tall skinny 16 year old girl.

"How old is your body?" I asked him quietly as I stopped in front of a fruit stand. It was almost dark out as the sun was still hiding behind many dark clouds.

His brows furrowed and he didn't look at me. "What do you mean?" He picked up a pear and I took it from him and placed it in the basket I was using. So far I had cheese, bread, carrots, grapes, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, many oranges, plums, lettuce, tomatoes, and now a pear.

"How. Old. Is. Your. Body." I repeated for him.

"There are two answers for that so you are going to have to be more specific," he said, paying for the food. We were speaking English so I thought no one could understand us. If they had they definitely would have considered us insane.

"How old is the body I am looking at?" I asked turning to him. "Twenty, twenty-one?"

He shook his head and looked at me. "My body is 19 years old."

"Oh…" I said as I looked at another pear. I placed it back on the others on the stand and walked away from him. I knew he would follow, I wanted him to follow and that thought scared me. He was a vampire, a vampire whose pals killed my best friends and then he killed his pals. _I am losing my mind._

I went to another stand and looked at the beautiful flowers there. I picked up a huge tiger lily. I felt Tristan walk up behind me. I reached in my pocket and handed the man money for the flower.

"Do you have everything you want?" he asked me when I turned to face him.

"Mhm…" I answered as I smelled the large blossom.

He took my hand in his large one and pulled me through the crowd. Not like he needed to, they pretty much parted like the Red Sea when they saw him approaching. I stopped at another stand with bottles on it. I picked one up and paid for it as Tristan waited, still holding my hand.

I caught most male eyes drifting to me and I couldn't help but smile a little as they drifted to Tristan connected to my hand. They normally then got very wide and dropped to the ground. My smile faded as I thought Vic would have done something crazy like flicked her tongue out at them in a sluttish sort of way.

I was already repressing the memories. I'll admit I was getting really good at it, after all these deaths I was sure there was no point in living anymore and Tristan couldn't always be around to stop me. _I'm coming Vic, Lils, Jen, Ames, and Jo. I'm coming…_ I was certainly not going to be held captive by a very large, gorgeous, beautiful, sexy vampire.

"Do you have any silverware or plates or anything?" I asked him as we got back into the car.

"I don't think we need to give you any silverware," he looked at me with a frown. "And no I don't, I've never had the need."

He took another turn and we headed even deeper into Paris. Next thing I knew we were pulling into a parking space. We were in front of a crystal and porcelain store.

I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "Are you sure you want to give me glass? I could find some uses for that too," I said, purely to annoy him. He surprised me by smiling.

"If you tried to break one to get the sharp edges I would hear it and you wouldn't have a chance," he was saying this to taunt me and I could see the humor deep in his eyes behind the serious face. I glared at him and got out of the car. I placed the large tiger lily on my seat and I slammed the door shut behind me. I heard a low chuckle. I pushed through the door and walked inside the small boutique.

I picked up a beautiful dark blue wine glass and turned to face him. I stared at the glass in my hand as I moved it around in the light, examining it.

"I could do it in the shower with the water running," I said quietly. "I could wrap the cup in a towel so it was really muffled and with that and the water, good luck." His smile got wider. My eyes were huge as I realized why he was smiling. "And you would never dare to even _think_ about coming in there to stop me or being in the bathroom with me while I shower…_at all_." I was stating this very specifically so he could not use any loop holes.

"I wouldn't have to think about it if you weren't threatening to kill yourself," he was frowning at me again.

I didn't say anything and that was a struggle. Then a lovely woman walked up to us and asked if we needed any help. She had been talking to me but her eyes drifted over to Tristan and she stopped talking and stared shamelessly.

I cleared my throat and asked her where the silverware was. She blinked a couple times and then led me to the back of the store. On shelves there were several sets of silverware. Fork, spoon, salad fork, soup spoon, butter knife, and sharp knife. I grabbed two sets. Then I asked her to get me three of the dark blue glasses I had been looking at and then I picked, just for fun, three bright lime green porcelain plates. I stepped up to the counter to pay for them but Tristan stepped in front of me. He gave her his credit card and she ran it through as I rounded on him.

"You don't have to pay," I said looking at him. "Money is definitely not an issue for me." I was speaking very honestly. My mother and father had been very successful in their business of selling wine. We used to have a large vineyard in California.

He shrugged, "It's not an issue for me either."

The salesperson wrapped the dishes and delicate glasses in tissue paper and set them carefully in a paper bag. Tristan grabbed the bag carefully and took my hand within his cool one. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed that. Around Lane and the others I was never at ease and now, even though I knew Tristan was a vampire, I was okay with that.

He set the bag on the floor in the backseat of the convertible and we were off.

When we reached his house I grabbed the bag with the food and the tiger lily and he grabbed the other bag of dishes. I walked through the large house, under the vaulted ceilings to the kitchen. Tristan set the bag on the counter and then he hoisted himself up to sit on it. I felt his eyes watching me as I moved around the large room.

I laid the lily on the granite counter top gently. I then took out the fruit and vegetables and I grabbed a new plate from the bag and ripped the tissue paper off of it. I rinsed the lettuce in the sink and tore a portion of it into bits over the lime green plate. I then rinsed off the raspberries and dropped a few of them on top of the lettuce. I took the cheese and sprinkled some of that over the lettuce and raspberries and then I went to the bag of dishes again.

I brought out one of the silverware sets and I felt and heard Tristan stiffen behind me. With a relish I drew out the sharp knife and it made a sinister scraping noise against the fork it was next to. The knife was out of my hand in an instant. I smiled, I couldn't help it.

"Okay, you can slice the tomato, carrot, plum and one peach too, thanks," I said, stepping away from him. I now hoisted myself up on the counter like he had before. He stood there staring at me; realization dawned on him as he looked from the knife to my face.

"I guess I could," he looked at me darkly with those ruby eyes. He was so very handsome. _Don't think like that, he's a vampire for crying out loud! _

He went to the counter and grabbed the said foods and diced and sliced them in a blink of an eye. His hand was a blur and so was the knife. _Yep…definitely not a chance of escape, not like you want to, _my mind said to me I had given up on scolding myself; I couldn't deny that he was really sexy but I could hide that I thought so. I grabbed a fork next to me.

I slipped down from the counter and walked over to him, being very careful not to touch him. I grabbed the plate and threw the fruit and vegetables onto the assorted lettuce pile. I then grabbed a glass from the bag and took out the bottle I bought at the market and poured some of its dark red contents into the glass. I swirled it under my nose and inhaled its bitter smell: wine.

I looked up from the glass and caught him staring at me. Before he had always been staring at my eyes, this time he was looking longingly at my lips. My knees felt weaker and I swallowed hard. He looked away from my lips to look at my eyes. He smiled at me as our eyes locked.

"You're very beautiful," he said quietly. I had got gorgeous, hot, fine, sexy, and every other word possible. I rarely got beautiful. I didn't know what to say so I rolled my eyes at him. It was a common brush-off I used to hide feelings.

He didn't let it drop like I hoped he would. "I mean it, I've seen a lot of gorgeous women and they aren't anything compared to you."

I did a quick up and down look of him and I finished at his face that was very serious and devilishly good looking. I bet he did meet a lot of good-looking women. Before he even unleashed the vampire powers I had experienced from Lane I was sure he got to take his pick from many of them. That thought bothered me. I didn't want to picture him with another woman. _I am acting insane_.

I speared a piece of plum with the fork and shoved it in my mouth. "You didn't buy any meat." He stated into the silence. I nodded at him; I thought I could keep better control of my thoughts if I didn't speak to him. "Why?"

That wasn't a yes or no response question. I had to speak, "Vegetarian."

He looked genuinely interested in this little scrap of knowledge about me. "Really? Why?" _Again with the 'why?' _I inwardly groaned. His beautiful face and smooth voice were not going to make this any easier for me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I never really found meat very appetizing," I answered, looking at the floor. I put a raspberry in my mouth.

He laughed. I looked up quickly.

"What do _you_ eat?" I already knew the answer to this one but I wanted to hear him say it. Maybe it would make me wake up and realize the danger I was really in because I couldn't force myself to be afraid of him. It should have been easy with the huge knots of muscles that consumed his arms and his broad shoulders, the large chest.

My question made him stop laughing immediately and I felt bad about that though I forced a stone cold look to dominate my features. His face was very sober as he looked at mine and I felt him see right through my mask.

"I think you can take a guess," his voice was low and quiet.

"Humans?" my voice was quiet too. I dreaded the answer even though I knew it.

He nodded and I felt like I had to admit something to him, something I had been denying to myself since this morning. "I'm okay with that," I felt a pressure lift off my chest as I said it. I didn't even really know why I said it. It wasn't like he was asking my permission or understanding.

His face was astounded to say the least. He stared at me in disbelief. "You're what?" he asked and his tone was also incredulous.

I swallowed and repeated that I was okay with him killing humans.

All of the humans I loved had been taken from me; I felt no connection with my race any longer. He stared at me in disbelief a while longer and I ate a bite of salad, hoping to distract him. It didn't work; we were in silence the rest of my meal. When I was finished I wasn't waiting for him to respond anymore so I put my plate in the unused dishwasher and downed the glass of wine. It burned my throat on the way down and I winced slightly.

I felt firm hands descend on my shoulders and I was turned around to face Tristan. He was standing very close and our bodies were touching. I hadn't been this close to him since I had placed his hand on my waist the night before when I wanted him to kill me. I took in a deep breath as his scent hit me. His hands moved from my shoulders slowly, tracing down my arms. They stopped at my hips and he drew me to him, our pelvises pressed together. He had to stoop down slightly; even though I was 5' 10" he was still much taller. His lips came down on mine and they were slightly like Lane's: cold and hard but still soft. Tristan's lips were slightly fuller than Lane's though and that made him a much better kisser. Also Tristan wasn't breathing on me, it was my choice to kiss him back.

I draped my arms on his shoulders and my hands intertwined behind his neck. His arms circled around my rib cage and he effortlessly lifted me up. The kiss was getting deeper now and his lips started to part mine. A practiced tongue came in my mouth and my tongue met it halfway. As they twisted together I could feel the muscles on his back moving slightly and I realized we were walking. I lifted my legs and wrapped them around with waist, clinging to him. One of his hands was combing through my hair and the other one was caressing my thigh. I felt the light breeze of a door being opened.

I came down on a bed in an instant. I unwrapped my legs from around his waist. He pushed himself up stood up and away from me; he was at the end of the bed I had slept in last night. We were in that room. He stripped his shirt off and threw it on the floor. My jawed physically dropped and I stopped breathing as I looked at the broad flat chest and the small square muscles that covered his entire stomach. Firm muscles by his hip bones formed the top of a V that descended into his pants. He smiled then crawled back over me and his hands slid beneath my shirt. My breathing was fast and shallow. He pulled the shirt over my head and threw it on the ground and then slid his body back over mine.

His lips crashed down on mine and I felt like I wanted to touch every inch of his large body. I ran my hands over his broad shoulders down his muscled arms and finally his large hands that were holding himself up from crushing me. I couldn't stand it any longer and reached for the button on his jeans, I unzipped them and slid my hand in.

He suddenly stopped kissing me and lifted his head to look at me. He was giving me a strange look. My breathing was erratic now and I had to find out what his problem was. _Damn it._

"What's…wrong," I pretty much gasped. His strange expression was still in place.

"You've done this before," he stated, a frown appearing.

I was surprised, "No I haven't." It was the truth, I hadn't.

"Are you sure?" he asked but his expression lifted.

"I would know," I said. "I admit I've done _this_ before." I looked down at my hand that was still in his jeans. He frowned at this and the expression I now recognized was jealousy was coming back.

"Have _you_?" I asked him, a frown appearing on my own face.

He cringed from what I said. I could guess the answer after _that_ easily enough. I felt the jealousy rising in my own chest.

"How many?" I asked bluntly. His eyes grew cautious, that wasn't a good sign. "How many women?" I asked again.

"At most?" he asked, still cautious. I pulled my hand out of his jeans slowly. "Maybe 60…wait!"

I had tried to push him off of me, he didn't let me up. "Get off of me!" I said in a deadly whisper.

"No, not before I can explain--" he started but I cut him off.

"Sixty! Sixty! Get off right now!" he didn't budge.

"Listen to me, please," he begged.

I slipped out from under him quickly, he let me. I scooped my tee-shirt up from the floor and walked out the door without looking back. I attempted to slam it but somebody caught it. I kept walking. The house was so big and I hadn't explored the second floor yet so I had no idea where I was going. I walked through door after door and he was yelling after me the whole time trying to explain.

"Aurora, I'm two hundred and thirty three years old… I didn't know I was going to run into someone like you or I wouldn't have slept with them. Come on, just look at me… I'm sorry, alright, I don't even know why I'm apologizing but I'm sorry," he said quickly and I rounded on him after he said this.

"You shouldn't have to apologize," he looked relieved but I knew it was going to be short-lived. I pulled my shirt on over my head and glared at the man I was so very close to loving but I definitely wouldn't admit that now. "I am going to go out and sleep with sixty guys and then I'll come back and we can do this." I gestured with my hand in the space between him and me.

His face was shocked and then it changed very quickly to anger as I tried to walk towards the stairs that were now in sight. His hand snagged me around the stomach and I was swung around and pressed into a wall, hard.

I was about to say 'ow' and yell at him when I saw his expression. It was livid. I gulped. He stood in front of me and placed one hand on either side of my head and stepped closer.

"You aren't going anywhere," he said, it came out as a growl no human could make. I nodded at him and a thrill of fear flitted through my heart and my stomach. He was really scaring me now. I would have been scared if he was a normal man, but he was a vampire, his red eyes didn't help. He seemed to realize this because he took a step back and removed his hands from the wall. He turned around and stormed off down the stairs.

"Tristan!" I yelled down after him. I didn't get a reply. "Tristan, I didn't mean it! I'm just angry!" Still no reply.

I walked down the stairs and walked through the rooms looking for him. Finally I gave up and went to do something I knew would get his attention. I headed to the kitchen. I went over to the counter and drew out the knife of the second set of silverware. It made the same scrape of metal on metal as the last time I did this.

I felt him behind me instantly. I saw his hand slowly reach for the knife. I watched as it gently came down on mine. I flipped my hand over so the knife rested in my palm, I waited for him to take it. He did and I heard him sigh. I turned around and saw his face looked very vulnerable. He threw the knife over his shoulder and it sank into the wall behind him. I leaned back against the counter and he put his hands on either side of my hips putting his weight on the counter too.

I smiled encouragingly, trying to get him to do the same. His red eyes looked hurt as they looked down into mine and then they looked away. "I won't sleep with sixty guys," I said quietly, but with humor, trying to lift him out of his reverie.

He looked down at me again and his eyes were hard and a flicker of his anger came back. "No…you won't." It was more like a command than an agreement. I glared at him, if he didn't look so serious I would have said something very, very rude. I settled for a threat I knew would have worked on me if he would have said it.

"As a matter of fact, I won't be sleeping with _anyone_," I pushed off the counter and ducked under his arm.

I headed towards the front door, though I really didn't know where I was planning on going. I grabbed the Mustang's keys from a small bench by the door. I stepped outside and I couldn't help but smile as I saw the sun was finally up. If legends were correct and Hollywood got it right I was free to drive him insane until I decided I wanted to return.

I walked out into the sunlight. I knew he was following me so I turned around, smiling at him. He was in the shade of the porch still. I was backing away from him, fully thrilled I found a weakness I could use against him. He looked at me and I wasn't expecting him to smile at me like that. _Why is he smiling like that, I won, I'm in the sun._

That was when he walked into the sun. Nothing happened, nothing whatsoever. I knew my jaw was dropped but I couldn't close it. He kept grinning like a madman at me. He sauntered over and took my hand and led me back in the house. I followed, shocked into silence, that was the only thing I had to fight him. Now I was getting frustrated.

"You can't…err! You can't go out in the sunlight!" I stated. He now gave me a condescending look before throwing back his head and laughing. He sat me down in a large leather chair in one of the rooms on the first floor. There were so many rooms I was slightly lost.

He stood in front of me and looked me over. I was still staring up at him in disbelief. "Nothing can harm us… vampires," he said quietly. His eyes were intense. "We only have our own character weaknesses and the only thing that can kill us would be ourselves, other vampires that is. Believe me, I won't be dying anytime soon." A strange, faraway look came over his beautiful face then.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him after awhile. A devilish smile crossed over his face.

"Anything else you want to do?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "because we are definitely not doing _that_."

He shrugged, his face falling slightly. "I said I was sorry, Aurora," he said. "I don't know what else I can say."

"There isn't anything you can say," I said to him, but not with the anger I had used before. "It was just the fact that there were sixty of them." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Doesn't make me feel very good, if you know what I mean." It didn't, he was about to be my first. The first guy I had ever loved had slept with at least 60 women before me, yep I felt just _special._

I kept my eyes closed; I didn't want to look at him.

I heard him kneel in front of me, he took my hands in his and I knew he was going to say something big. _What was it going to be? 70 girls? He was planning on eating me in the morning? Hit me with it you jerk!_

"I love you Aurora," he whispered. My eyes shot open at what he had just said. I wasn't expecting _that_! His mouth was now at my ear. "You're the only person I have ever loved," I snorted in disbelief, I was recovering from the shock quickly. He put a finger under my chin and forced my head up. I still didn't want to look at him, so I didn't meet his eyes. I stared at a small chair across from me.

"Listen to me," he pleaded. I gave into the voice of the angel and met his eyes. The red pools seemed very deep, but not as terrifying as they should look…Tristan could be scary, that was for damn sure, but he didn't look scary now. "I have done a lot of wrong things…" his voice was so sincere and he looked upset, he quickly pushed it back. It was like watching myself, because I did the same thing. "And now that I've met you I won't do them again. I have never loved anyone before you. I will never love anyone else the way I love you now. Everything I am is yours; you have my soul in your hands. Tell me to go and I will. Tell me to take you back to your hotel and I will. What do you want Aurora?"

"I don't want to leave," it came out before I could even think about what he had said, the only thing I registered so far was him and I possibly being separated. Then the rest of it came crashing in on me. _I think he means what he's saying…_

I jumped up out of the chair and took several backwards steps away from him. He looked surprised and then sad. "I will take you back…" he said and I heard his struggle to get the words out.

"No, I mean it, I don't want to leave," I said and he looked up at me curiously. His eyebrows pulled together to form one arched V.

"I don't understand," he took a step forward and I backed away another one. His brow furrowed again as he took _another_ step forward and I took one backwards. "I said I wouldn't hurt you," he said, looking at me like he was trying to communicate some vital information.

"I'm not a good person to love," I tried to explain to him. His expression got even more confused and he tried to take **_another_** step towards me. I stepped away again and backed into the wall. _Shit._ "People I love die," I explained, hoping he could see that I was warning him.

He smiled a wicked grin and I was in his arms before I could register what had happened. "I'm already dead, Aurora," he said.

That took a few seconds to sink in. "Yeah but you killed Lane, there is a possibility you could die and if I love you that will definitely happen."

His grin faded a little. "Aurora, you don't have to worry about anyone killing me," his tone was strange.

I looked at him questioningly, curious as to what made him so confident and what made that tone come with the words. He cut me off before I could question him. "I don't want to talk about it." There was a note of finality in his voice. The topic was closed to discussion.

"Are you positive you won't die?" I whispered. I was very close to taking the biggest risk of my life.

"Very," he said in my ear. I heard the smile in his voice and I started to relax.

"I love you," I did it. I jumped off the cliff. I took the jump and hoped to God I could fly. He hugged me tight to him. I hugged him back.

_Please review, it means a lot. As I said some vampire rules are going to differ and stuff from Stephenie Meyer's version of vampires and that is because this is my story. _

_Syd_


	5. my only weakness

_A/N: Nothing to do with Twilight. _

_Vampire Rules are different._

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"So, what are your weaknesses?" I asked Tristan as he set me down on the ground again. We had held each other for what seemed like hours after I admitted I loved him. It was hard to say it to him after what I had just been through with my friends' deaths but it was the truth.

We walked over to the two chairs and I could see him thinking my question over; searching for the right words. I sat down on the chair I had been sitting on and he pulled another one over to it and sat down across from me.

"Well, for one thing, vampires are weaker in the daylight. Though the sun does not harm us it still does not welcome the living dead so it drains us of some powers the dark gives us," he explained. He frowned at me and brushed a lock of hair out of my face. After he did this he let his cool hand rest on my neck. My heart involuntarily fluttered.

"How weak is weak?" I said with a playful smile.

He gave me a wicked grin. "In the night I could take on one hundred crazed and bloodthirsty tigers." That wiped the smile off of my face and made his get wider. "In the daylight I could only kill about forty."

I just stared at him. That was a scary bit of knowledge I filed away in my mind to think over later. I couldn't help but shiver a little bit and he noticed.

"Are you still okay with me being a vampire?" his expression was dark and his question was a test. His eyes studied every inch of my face quickly, and then they locked onto my eyes. I nodded, I loved him already and my love wasn't revocable. As soon as you had it I loved you forever… even when you died.

He didn't exactly look happier when I did that. His face was unreadable. I tried to bring him back around to our previous discussion and hoped he wouldn't get angry.

"What else is there?" I didn't want to come right out and ask specifics.

His eyes once again scrutinized my face and I stared him down. "We have heightened senses: smell, touch and hearing. You will never be able to sneak up on me. If you did, it would be because I let you." he brushed the cool pad of his thumb along my cheekbone and I smiled at him.

"Would you let me?" I asked.

A twinkle came into his ruby red eyes as he shrugged. More questions were popping up in my head. He seemed content to just sit here silently all day and I liked the thought of that too, but I wanted answers. If I was in love with one, I might as well know all about vampires. "Do you sleep upside-down?" It seemed like a really stupid question so I quickly asked another one. "Or do you prefer a coffin?" _Stupider…_

He laughed at me. "I don't actually sleep. I recharge for two hours when I need rest. It is a very deep sleep and until my body is ready, I won't wake."

"When do you sleep?" I asked him, grabbing his hand and following the lines on the palm with my fingers. I could feel his eyes on me.

"Normally around 10 in the morning and about once every two weeks," he said quietly.

"What time is it now?" the sun was starting to go down in the window behind him. He pulled his hand away to check his large metal watch put subtly put the other hand back in mine.

"Its 7:00, you slept in late," he said with a smile.

"When will you have to sleep next?" I asked him.

"I should have today," he said. "I am tired." He gave me a small smile.

He stood up and pulled me up with him. I let him lead me to the stairs and we walked up them quietly. We reached my bedroom door and he paused before it. I was trying to slow my breathing. He looked at me with a question in his eyes.

"I'm just going to sleep, and I would rather know where you were while I rest," he said quietly and my stomach calmed. It had been slightly uneasy out of nerves.

He opened the door and led me inside. He let go of my hand and closed the door behind me. He gave me a wolfish grin and started taking off his shirt. My heart started pounding again and I forced my eyes to look away. I walked over to my suitcases and pulled out the yellow sports bra and--ah, what the heck, my short gray cotton shorts. I might as well show off my long legs, he was sure enjoying the fascination I had with his stomach. I walked into the bathroom to change and I heard a low chuckle behind me. I definitely wasn't going to change in front of him yet. An hour ago I was willing to have sex with him but changing now, nope. I was very inconsistent.

I changed quickly, eager to get back to him. I left my hair down and it tickled my bare back. I loved my long hair; I wanted it longer if anything. _I wonder if Tristan's hair grows._ So many questions I still had to ask him.

I walked back into the bedroom and he wasn't in there, I felt disappointed and wondered briefly where he went. He would come back, I knew that. I walked over to the bed and as I slipped under the covers my eye-lids were heavy. I closed them slowly.

I felt the bed sink under something's weight and my eyes shot open. He was sitting on my edge of the bed and looking down at me with tender eyes. I felt my heart leap at the sight of him. I wanted to touch him but he got to me first. He pulled the blankets away from me and he slipped his body over mine. He held himself up on his elbows. He leaned in and started kissing my neck softly. I froze, I wasn't an expert but I didn't think it was a good idea to have his teeth so close to my jugular. He placed one large cold hand on my rib cage and I relaxed beneath it. But I couldn't hide my fear from him.

"You're not in danger," he whispered in my ear before running his tongue over it. I moaned.

"I thought you were tired," I whispered as he pushed my legs apart with a knee and he settled his hips in between my legs.

"I can fight ten tigers when I am absolutely exhausted, Aurora," he said. And then he sighed and slid off of me and rested by my side. He slipped an arm around my stomach and drew me into him. "But you are tired. I'll let you sleep."

I pushed one of my long legs up and onto his stomach then I slid my body over his so I was in a straddling position. I propped myself up on my forearms I had placed on his chest. I was looking in his eyes. I leaned in and kissed him lightly. His hand came up behind my head and grabbed my hair. He pressed my face down on his. The kiss was long and sweet and I was the one who pulled out of it, I had to breathe.

I pulled up and off of him just a little. I was still gasping for air when he groaned and slammed his head back on the pillow.

"Do you really want to know what my weakness is?" he asked me, looking at the ceiling. He sounded very serious and I looked at him curiously, trying to gage his expression. I didn't see anything.

"What?" I asked him quietly.

"You," he whispered. "I'm afraid all the time, and I have never been afraid, Aurora." His eyes finally met mine, they looked sad. "I'm afraid you're going to leave me. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you. I'm always fighting the need to bite you and you're so soft and your bones are so frail. I'm afraid someone will find out how I feel about you and try to take you away from me."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said as I brushed his dark blonde hair out of his red eyes. His hair was really beautiful. It was long and it curled out slightly around his ears and had light blonde highlights spread evenly throughout it. He looked so young, only nineteen.

His arms came up and wrapped around my waist. He was holding me down on him with excessive force. "No, you're not," he whispered in my ear before his lips went to the hollow space under it.

He kissed me until he had my breathing erratic again and then he let me breathe. I swear he did it on purpose. I tried to push off of him but he didn't let me.

"I want to sleep," I whispered to him. He closed his eyes and a small smile crept up on his lips.

"You can sleep there," he whispered back. I heard sleep entering his voice.

"Okay," I said smiling. I was okay with my position. His fingers danced up and down my bare back. It was so soothing that I laid my head on his chest and quickly fell asleep.

When I woke up it felt like it was only seconds later. "Ugh…" I said at the taste in my mouth. I was sleeping on something that was going up and down slowly. I opened my eyes and I saw Tristan. His eyes were closed. He was sleeping. I reached back and lifted his limp arms off of me one at a time. He moved slightly beneath me and I froze. I didn't want to wake him up. He settled back down again and I resumed getting off. I was slipping off of him slowly and he chose that exact moment to turn over.

"Ahh…" I was trying to keep really quiet as I balanced on one leg that was on the floor and the other one was pinned under Tristan. I fell. _Thud._ "Oaf!" I breathed as my butt hit the wood floor. I popped my head up quickly to look at him. Still very asleep.

I pushed myself up and walked gingerly to my suitcase. I wasn't really tired anymore and I was really hungry. I slipped on my favorite black sweat pants over my shorts and headed out the bedroom door, closing it quietly behind me. I went down the stairs, still trying to make as little noise as possible. I looked at the clock when I reached the kitchen, 8:50. I had slept for about an hour and fifty minutes. It was really dark outside now.

I went to the bag of food and grabbed the small bag of strawberries. I wandered through the house, eating strawberries, and came across an empty beautiful room with a highly polished dark wood floor. I put a strawberry in my mouth and bit the fruit off so I had the small leaves in my hand. I placed the leaves back in the bag and set it down.

This floor reminded me of the dance floor of the ballroom dancing classes I used to take when my parents were alive. I had resumed lessons 3 years ago and I had a few new favorite dances. Vic had taken lessons with me. We had plans of finding a ballroom dancing place here in Paris and trying out our skills with new partners. Our teacher always praised us for being, what she politely called, _vigorous._ We knew she was restraining from using a different word: _provocative_.

I put my arms up in the firm frame of the Waltz. I stepped lightly around the floor following the steps I knew by heart so I moved in large circles, spinning and pausing for the dip.

"Aurora!" his voice rang through the house and startled me so much I fell over and my heart was doing double-time.

"What!" I yelled from the ground. I swore under my breath as I tried to regain my breath. You don't scream someone's name into the silence when they are Waltzing in their own little world.

He was at the door in seconds and he glared down at me on the floor. "Jesus Aurora! You can't leave me like that when I'm sleeping. I woke up expecting to find you next to me and I can only pick up your scent! You could have left an hour ago for all I knew!" he was yelling at the end of it, working himself up into a full blown oral onslaught. I really didn't want that.

"You thought I would leave?" I asked, heading him off.

He looked at my face and was silent for a few seconds. "You don't know the dangers that surround you; the dangers that surround Paris." He was looking at me with the strange expression again. "There are more of us. Many more. You weren't even here a full day before you attracted the attention of 6 vampires," he walked over to me and put out his hand. I took it and he pulled me up to my feet.

He looked around the empty room we were in and at the floor I was on. I was in the center of the room. "Why are you in here?" he asked. His voice wasn't hard anymore.

"I was Waltzing." I walked away from him and over to the bag of strawberries on the floor. I turned around and his expression was surprised.

"You can Waltz?" he sounded incredulous.

"Yes, but I prefer other dances over it," I smiled at his face. "Do you know how to tango?" He smiled at me. It was a priceless grin and it itself answered the question for me. I held my hands up with my palms to him as he started walking towards me. "Do you have a CD player?" I had a reason for asking this.

"Yes," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you go get it? I have to grab something," he and I left the room and headed in different directions.

I went up the stairs to my suitcases. I grabbed out my collection of CDs I had brought along for the plane trip. I slipped one out of it. It was a mixed CD that Vic and I had made for Tango class. It helped us be more…_vigorous_.

I came back to the room and saw him standing in the center. _Of course_ he was faster than me. I tore my eyes from his beauty and searched around the room for the CD player. I saw it against the right wall on the floor. I walked over to it and placed in the disc. I pressed down the play button and the first song came on. The whine of the violins hit me immediately; I stayed there and listened to it for a few seconds.

When the chords got faster and faster I turned around to look at him. I was giving him a wicked look. He may be a vampire but I didn't think he was ready for this. He looked at my smile curiously.

"Are you ready?" I asked, still trying to contain my smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, ignoring my question. I just shrugged, flashing my teeth in the smile I couldn't hold back any longer. He glanced at my smile before his eyes returned to mine; they held a glint of amusement. "I don't think you should be smiling like that, you're going to have to work very hard to keep up with a vampire." He was now grinning at me.

I wanted to roll my eyes but I restrained. I wanted to surprise him; he said it was impossible to sneak up on him so this was going to be my way of doing just that.

I had the CD memorized and I knew that this song was going to hit its climax soon. I stepped towards him quickly and his eyes locked on mine and he met me half way. I threw my hands up on his neck as I reached him and his went on my hips.

He started to lead at first, making me step backwards. I laughed and he looked at me curiously again. I grinned at him in a seductive way, looking at him from under my lashes. I snapped my leg out and pushed myself into him, I heard him catch his breath and I dropped the smile. It was working time now; this was the time to show him _who_ was going to have to work hard to keep up with _whom_. I pulled away slightly and twisted my lower body around and picked up my leg and crossed it across our bodies and snapped it down on the floor between us. I stepped forward and he was forced to follow. I arched my back and pushed away and he pulled me back to him in response.

Our bodies were pressed together and my breathing was getting too fast. He threw me into a deep dip and my back must have made a U because my head almost touched the floor. He was lucky I had taken ballet all my life and was very flexible or he might have broken my back. He pulled me back up and I curled my leg around his waist and we were starting to lose the rhythm of the dance and were more aware of each other's bodies than the song or steps.

My breathing was becoming faster and shorter. I was sure he wasn't tired but I didn't want to be the one to stop. Thankfully I wasn't. After he dipped me again I decided to kick my leg out in the _vigorous_ move it took me two weeks of landing on my butt to achieve. He caught it like he was supposed to but he didn't let go. He leaned in and kissed me, still holding my leg. He was _incredibly_ lucky I was flexible because I was pretty much doing the splits as he was kissing me.

After a minute of kissing I really couldn't breathe. I pulled away, gasping. He still held me close to him, waiting for me to catch my breath. "Can you put my leg down?" I asked between breaths. He slowly lowered it back to the ground.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" he asked me, he was also a little breathless but I knew he wasn't tired.

"Maryland," I said simply, I was still trying to catch my breath. My heart was racing. He gave me a wolfish smile.

"It looks like dancing with me is quite a workout for you," he said, his eyes gleaming. He was still supporting most of my weight but he didn't seem to mind.

I couldn't argue with that. My heart was starting to calm down but it still hadn't returned to its slow, steady beat. I was sweating slightly too, though not as much as I would have been with a normal partner. Tristan was stronger and faster so he reduced on some work I had to do with the hopeless boys back at lessons in Maryland. I swear half the boys in the class only showed because they heard Victoria and I went.

"Are you still hungry?" Tristan let me stand on my own now and looked over at the strawberries on the floor. He looked back at me frowning. "Are you sure you eat enough?"

"Probably not… I am not too hungry right now though." I whispered.

I let the grief of my friends' death come up a little. I didn't want to think about what Madame Charmon had thought happened to us, or if the police were searching the streets and dumpsters. If Victoria's parents had been contacted along with everyone else's. Amelia's mom would probably die of grief. I knew the woman; she was kind but a little too over-protective for Amelia's bold personality.

"Well that is too bad. We are going out to eat," he said and grabbed my hand. He pulled me to his chest and picked me up swiftly. He ran me up the stairs and set me down on the bed in my room. "Get dressed, I will wait here."

"Why can't I just go like this?" I asked, keeping a serious face as I motioned to my sports bra.

His eyes narrowed. "I will change you if you won't do so on your own," he threatened.

I hopped up and went to the bathroom quickly, without a word. I looked in the mirror and the situation wasn't _too_ hopeless. I grabbed the dark camouflage pants from the floor and pulled on the black tee-shirt.

My hair was a mess so I twisted it up into a loose French knot of white-blonde hair and headed out the door. He was sitting on the bed and looked up at me when I came into the room. He smiled appreciatively and I returned the favor. We were both wearing black. It looked so good on him I think it became my new favorite color. With me in Victoria's clothes and him with his longer than average hair, it looked like we were going to a rock concert.

"Ready?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as I gazed at him.

"Yeah…" a thought occurred to me. "Can I drive?"

"No," he didn't even give it a thought.

"Why?" I asked, my eyebrows pulling together.

"Because you don't know your way around Paris and I do, and I like my car a lot. It is in one piece now and I would like it to continue to be that way," he said, giving me a wry smile.

"I'm not going anywhere if I can't drive," I said, placing my hands on my hips. This was a no win situation and I knew it. I had to give it a shot though.

He smiled at me, "Oh yes, my love, you are going."

My heart leaped at his words but I kept a strait face. He stood up slowly and started walking towards me, exaggerating each step into an endless eternity. His eyes were locked on mine and it seemed he could hear my heart rate increasing a little more every step. He finally reached me. He was holding back, I could see it in the way he held his body. He held his body a few inches away from mine, letting me breathe in the heady scent coming off of him but not touching me at all.

I gave up and wrapped my arms around his muscled waist and held him close. He stood there without moving and when I looked up at him he was smiling down at me; his red eyes gleaming. He leaned down to me and his breath hit my neck as he spoke.

"It looks like I'm not the only one who cannot resist the one they love," he whispered in my ear.

**_Please review! It means a lot to me. _**Like I said before, the vampire rules are different from Stephenie Meyer's version. The plot to the story is coming up soon don't worry, this story has a plot, mine always do.**_ I am planning on writing a new chapter of "like us" next so this story may not be updated for like three days. _**But I will update as soon as I can.

Sydney


	6. i'm not going to die

_Nothing to do with Twilight. My story, My characters, My plot._

_Vampire rules are different._

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"Oh really?" I asked withdrawing my arms. "I can resist all I want." Just to prove my point I took a step away from him. That was hard, his face broke into a smile and he looked at me with eyes that were gleaming with amusement.

I took another step away and turned to walk out of the door. _Ha!_ I walked to the top of the stairs and I felt his cool hands come down on my waist and I smiled. I laughed a little too.

"How is the resisting going?" I asked casually. We had reached the bottom of the stairs now.

I felt his hands grip a little tighter and I was suddenly jerked around and my back thudded into a wall. I opened my mouth to say something but I didn't really get a chance. Tristan's hands were placed on the wall on either side of my head and his feet spread out wide: making it impossible to run away. I looked up at his face, worried. He was smiling, it was a genuine smile and I visibly relaxed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to sound affronted when really I was very okay with having him this close.

"The resisting isn't going so well," his said, smiling wider.

"So you think you can throw me against a wall?" I asked slowly, my eyes scrutinizing his gorgeous features.

His grin turned wolfish. "Well, I am a vampire," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

"So?" I said back, I was almost breathless.

His breath came in ripples on my neck softly as he laughed. "We tend to be a little aggressive," he whispered before his lips came down onto the skin of my neck.

My knees were giving out and I was focusing all my attention on standing. Despite my efforts I was slowly slipping down the wall. I pushed my legs harder into the ground, flexing my thighs and calves, willing myself to stop sliding. My breathing was coming faster as I felt his hands start slowly sliding up my shirt.

"Stop," I managed to gasp. My head was getting light.

He did and leaned away from me. That's when I lost control over my legs and slid all the way down the wall, sitting on the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying to hide the amusement in his voice, but I still heard it.

"You're killing me," I muttered. I meant it as a passing statement. He didn't take it that way. He took a few steps away from me. His beautiful face was utterly shocked and afraid.

"Is it your heart?" he asked quickly, still keeping his distance though it looked like he wanted to rush up to me. "Do you need to go to the hospital? Will you be okay if I take you?" the questions ran out of his mouth.

"I don't need to go to the hospital. That was just an expression. I'm not dying," I said just as quickly, watching his face.

His eyes narrowed as he glared at me. His infamous muscles all tensed and his jaw tightened. _This isn't going to be good,_ I thought He seemed to have a temper.

"I would prefer you didn't mention yourself dying," he said in a controlled voice.

I swallowed and nodded, standing up from the floor using the wall. He watched me do this and stood his ground; muscles still tense, _ready to pounce,_ I thought. I took a deep breath and walked over to him slowly, watching his eyes with every step I took. His expression didn't change and I could tell he was consciously holding the blank look there. I reached out and took his large hand that had formed into a fist in mine. His fingers relaxed and his hand unclenched, I squeezed it a little to reassure him in some way that I was still living.

He looked down at me and started breathing again. His eyes were penetrating, I gave him a small smile and he continued to look at me.

"Do you still want to force me to eat?" I asked him.

"Do you want to eat?" he asked me calmly. I shook my head. "Then we don't have to go."

"Thanks," I said, smiling wider. He still looked solemn. "I'm not planning on dying," I added quietly. His eyebrows rose and then he gave me a hard look.

"You're human, it's very possible you could," he stated, his features returned to blank and he looked away from me.

"It's almost impossible actually," I said, adding confidence to my quiet voice that was far from cheerful. His eyes darted to mine. "Everyone I have ever known and been close to has died, but never me. I even tried to get a vampire to kill me and that didn't work out," I gave him a wicked grin that soon faded. "I always live; never following them… I live to feel my heart ripped apart… knowing everyday they're gone."

I stopped the tears before they could fall. I ground my teeth together, flexing my jaw.

"I am sorry Aurora, I am sorry you have had to feel remorse but I am not sorry you survived when others did not." He said quietly.

"Don't be sorry, it is the way things are. Everyone feels remorse," I said. His features got hard and his chest stopped rising and falling.

"Not everyone," he stated coldly. "If I have it would have been recently or before I can clearly remember," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Vampires do not feel for humans at all nor regret hurting them. Though there are rare cases."

"Am I a rare case?" I asked, copying his tone.

"Very rare," he said, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

I yawned as he did this, the soft touch releasing my tension. "What time is it?" I asked.

He flipped his wrist to look at the watch. I took a closer look at it and recognized the expensive brand by the white gold trade mark and clasp. It had to cost him thousands.

"10:00," he said and swept me up without warning. Before I could blink twice we were outside another dark door. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "My room," he explained with a grin. My breath caught.

He opened the door without even jostling me and it swung open to reveal a large room that was painted a dark gray color with white accents. The room was pretty bare. What took up most of the space was a large king sized bed. I gulped. The bed was done up in mostly black: a black comforter and what appeared like black sheets.

I moved in his arms, signaling I wanted to be put down. I slowly slid down to the floor when he tilted his arms.

"Why are we in here?" I asked, my voice was a little shaky so I took a few deep breaths.

"Because you're tired," he said. I couldn't see it but I knew he was holding back a smile.

"Why in your room?" I asked, my voice was better this time.

"Because I like it better and the bed is bigger. The only reason we weren't in here earlier is that you nearly had a heart attack outside your own bedroom, I didn't feel the need to scare you further by taking you to mine." Yep, he was definitely enjoying this.

I turned on my heel and walked towards the door. A hand grabbed my wrist.

"Where are you going?" He had a wolfish grin on.

"Have to get my p.j.s," I said in a voice that was meant to sound light and cheerful but it came out like I had run a marathon. I swallowed, _that was lovely, he'll definitely believe you, good show Aurora, bravo, _I thought sarcastically.

He raised an eyebrow but let go of my wrist, cocky smile still in place. I didn't allow my feet to run from the room but as soon as I pulled his door shut behind me I broke out into a quiet jog on my tip-toes. I ran down the hall reached my room and ran to my bags, actually looking for my pajamas. I looked for the most conservative pair I could find. I silently belittled myself for being a show-off in school with all the judgmental girls, therefore the best I could find was a white tank top and my old black sweatpants.

I wasn't changing in front of him so I slipped off my pants and pulled on the sweats. I yanked off the t-shirt and pulled on my tank top. Then I was about to unclasp the bra but I paused, maybe it was a good idea to have extra layers on. With that in mind, making my stomach feel a little sick, I turned around.

I almost screamed and really fell back on my butt. He was leaning up against the doorway with a huge, teeth shining grin.

"Jesus Christ!" I hadn't said that since kindergarten when my mom told me it was a bad thing to say when mad. "Don't do that!"

My breathing was heavy and my heart was pounding. He just kept smiling at me. I picked myself up from the ground and walked over to him. I put my hands on his chest and shoved with all my might. He could have stopped me if he had been prepared for my reaction. Lucky me, he wasn't. He tumbled backwards into the hall and I slammed the door and locked it quickly.

"You can't do that!" I yelled through the wood. "Don't sneak up on me!" I huffed and turned around to glare at the wall. I stalked over to the bed and jumped in and pulled the covers up around me.

"Aurora, I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

"You didn't scare me," I yelled from the bed. That was a lie and we both knew it.

"Let me in," he asked.

"I don't think so," I allowed myself a smile. _Ha Ha Mister Cocky Smile!_

"Aurora," his voice was like a growl and sounded like a warning.

"No," I said. I wasn't smiling now. In all seriousness, I was happy to sleep in my own room.

_Crash!_ I shot up into a sitting position in the bed and stared at what used to be the door. It was now a pile of wood. I just stared at the pieces with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wide. I attempted to speak but no words would come out. _He just obliterated the door!_ For the first time I really considered what he was. He wasn't _human._ The thought was a tad bit disturbing but I still wasn't afraid like I should have been. After what he just did to the door I should have been but I wasn't. I was shocked, not afraid.

"What's your middle name?" I asked quietly, still staring at the wood.

"Ivan James," he said, I could here the question in his voice. Maybe he was rethinking the breaking-down-the-door thing.

"Tristan Ivan James," I said slowly. "You just smashed the door into smithereens." There was still a lot of shock in my voice so I blinked a couple times and then looked at him, my mouth open.

He shrugged. "Yes?" He was looking at me like this happened everyday and wondered what was wrong with me.

I shook my head a little and blinked a few more times. I almost felt bad for the door. If I just would have let him in he wouldn't have broke it. I pushed my legs out of the bed and walked over to him before he broke something else.

"You shouldn't have done that," I said with a glare. "I would eventually have let you in." He raised an eyebrow in question. "Maybe," I added honestly.

"That's what I thought," he said, smiling at me. He took my hand carefully in his and started leading me back down the hallway.

My heart rate started to go back up again and I knew he could feel it. He chose to ignore it though. We walked through the doorway and he let go of my hand. I was so tired I climbed into the bed without hesitation, ignoring my apprehension. He climbed in after me and was soon on his elbows, hovering over me.

I took a quick visual of him and he wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of baggy shorts. My eyes lingered on him for awhile before I looked back into his face. His dark blonde hair was falling in his blood red eyes. He was smiling down at me. It was a genuine smile though, not wolfish or cocky. In my opinion he couldn't have looked more beautiful.

I shifted a little beneath him to reach up to touch his face. I trailed the tips of my fingers along his forehead and swept them down the side of his face until his jaw. He had his eyes closed and his breathing became heavier. I pulled my hand away.

His eyes opened. "I won't do anything until you are ready, _mon amour_," he said. I smiled and reached both of my hands up.

I placed both hands on the side of his neck and softly traced his jaw with my thumbs. My hands slowly slid down his neck onto his shoulders. I followed his triceps to his biceps and then onto his forearms that were resting on the mattress beside me. I turned my head to watch my left hand caress his forearm. I looked at his hands that were balled into fists and his white knuckles. I smiled.

I took my hands off his arms and placed my palms on his collarbone. I slid them down at a painfully slow pace, running over his chest and finally his tight abs. I used the back of my fingernails to run along the top of the V-shaped muscle that descended into his shorts. He groaned and I quickly put my hands back at my sides.

"_Tentatatrice,_ you are testing my restraint," he whispered, still slightly panting. My own breathing was ragged. "You can't even imagine how that feels," he leaned his head in and whispered in my ear.

He started kissing my neck and I was pretty sure I could imagine very well. One of his hands slid under my tank top and rested on my ribs, slowing my breathing by rubbing calming circles with his thumb. I started relaxing; this was as perfect as my life was going to be now. My eyes started to close but opened wide when he pulled me close to him roughly. My back was no longer on the bed and he was kissing my shoulder softly. One hand was on the small of my back, holding me close to him but the other was under my shirt. I felt it inching up my back. It finally stopped when it reached my bra strap. My breath caught and I started pushing on his chest to make him stop.

His lips immediately returned to my ear and he made quiet soothing sounds and I started to breathe again. His hand again reached for my bra strap and he unclasped it. The bra was quickly removed and he lowered me back onto the bed.

He looked longingly at my lips but he took his time as he slowly lowered his to mine. When he reached them he softly murmured, "_Je t'aime, l'Aurore_."

My lips were already parted as my breathing got heavier. "_Je connais, Tristan_," I whispered.

It was so strange how I knew he loved me, I could see it in his crimson eyes and feel it every time he touched me. But most of all I knew he loved me because I felt the same way; I had never loved so quickly in my entire life nor so completely.

His lips came down on mine fast but soft. His tongue ran along my lower lip and I parted my lips for him. I had never held this much passion or felt this much in any other kiss I had ever received, and I had received a lot. We were going at each other slowly, taking in each other's motions and gestures. His tongue ran along the roof of my mouth as mine caressed the side of his cheek. It was strange but wonderful to feel his tongue that was cool and smooth in my mouth and to feel the chill run down my spine.

He moaned and I withdrew a little. All my sixteen years of life I hadn't had sex with anyone and I wasn't sure if I was ready to let the only remaining innocence I had left go, even if I loved him. He stopped kissing me when I paused.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He rocked forward to kiss my forehead softly. "You could never do anything wrong, _mon amour,_" he whispered against the skin. "Go to sleep now."

I slowly complied; I was too tired to argue.

I woke up to the sunlight on my face. I rolled over; expecting to see Tristan but all that was there was a note.

-----------------

_Aurora,_

_I have to meet with someone. If you have to go out wear what I have set out for you and don't take them off until you get home. I would prefer you not leave at all though and only go out if it's an emergency._

_Tristan_

_Je t'aime_

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_So now he's picking out my clothes?_ I thought. I picked up the note to read it again. As I lifted it up I saw a large purple velvet jewelry box. I cocked an eyebrow. Is this what he meant by 'set out for you'?

I lifted the lid and inside it were two black pearl bracelets. My mouth dropped open and I lifted one of them out. I held it, intertwined in my fingers, and lifted it up to examine it.

"No way," I voiced to no one.

I set in back inside the box carefully and looked at the other item that was closer to the hinge of the lid. It was a simple black ribbon. My eyebrows pulled together as I frowned at it, contemplating what it was. I lifted it out of the box and a little piece of paper fluttered to the ground. I bent over to pick it up.

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_Goes around their neck._

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It wasn't in Tristan's handwriting from what I could tell from the note. The piece of black ribbon must be some sort of choker.

"Hmm," I hummed. I looked around the room. _Well, what is his idea of an emergency?_ I thought. I didn't want to stay in the house today, it was sunny and warm looking outside. I walked out the door and down the hall to my bedroom. The remaining pieces of wood from last night's argument were gone. I crossed the room quickly and went into the bathroom. I took a quick shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I went to the mirror and decided I might as well look good if I was going out.

I went back into the bedroom and retrieved my blow-dryer from my bags. Not too much later I had my hair curled in big spirals cascading down my back. Next I reached for my make-up. I applied a thin layer of eyeliner on my top lid and mascara to make my lashes longer.

I went to my suitcases after brushing my teeth and pulled on a pair of my own jeans and reached for one of Victoria's black t-shirts. This one was had band logos on it. I felt like a part of Victoria was still with me when I put it on. I remembered what Victoria used to classify as an emergency…manicures. When you were stressed out that was the only cure in Victoria's eyes. I smiled at the memory.

I went back to Tristan's room, which I would probably be sleeping in from now on if he had his way. I picked up the box of jewelry from the bed and took it back to my bathroom. I slid on the two black pearl bracelets, one on each wrist, and then took out the black ribbon. I pulled it tight against my throat and tied a small boe in the back. I let my hair down again and it covered the boe up nicely.

I walked down the stairs quickly after grabbing my purse from my luggage. On the little bench by the door were the Mustang's keys. Tristan must have gotten to where he needed to be some other way. I had a big smile on my face as I snatched them up.

I was driving in Paris for only a few minutes before I saw a glass fronted shop with a sign: _Manucures et Pedicures!_

I parked the black convertible and entered the shop. I was soon sitting in front of an older woman with curly light brown hair with a few grays. She looked really friendly and smiled a lot and they were all genuine smiles. I envied her; she looked so carefree and overall happy. She introduced herself as Kay.

"_Mon mon, vous etes joli_." she said with a friendly smile and she gestured to see my hands. I placed them on the table. "_Ah, ceux-ci sont beau_!"

I smiled at her, "_Merci_." She was still looking at the bracelets with interest.

Soon she lost that interest and started washing my nails. The bell on the door jingled and I turned my head to look at whoever entered. My eyes widened as a beautiful pale woman with black hair walked in. Her face was slightly rounded and she had large brown eyes that took in everyone in the room as she smiled. I concluded she must come here a lot.

The woman named Kay let go of my hand and waved at her, "_Salut_ Margaret!" Conclusion correct.

The beautiful woman turned to us and started walking over. She bent down to Kay and they kissed in the French way of bumping cheeks and Kay felt it was necessary to introduce me and show this Margaret woman the bracelets Tristan gave me.

Margaret looked at the bracelets and her eyes narrowed before her eyebrows lifted. She picked up my arm by my wrist and her fingers were just as cool as Tristan's. I gasped, realizing what she was.

She heard my gasp and looked up at me. Her eyes quickly traveled to my neck and lingered on the ribbon. "You know Tristan?" she asked in English. I was taken back by this, both her English which was accented and sounded like a Scottish brogue and that she knew who gave me the bracelets.

"Yes," I answered cautiously. "Do you?"

She laughed softly and nodded. "You won't find one of _us_ who doesn't." I knew who she meant by _us_, vampires.

"What do you mean?" I asked her eagerly.

Margaret looked at Kay, who looked confused, and told her she would paint my nails today. Kay nodded but gave us a suspicious look and gave her seat to Margaret.

"How did you know I knew Tristan?" I asked her as soon as she took Kay's seat.

"The bracelets," she said, pulling out some light beige polish. "The black pearls are Tristan's jewel."

"His jewel?" I asked. I didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like I was branded by just wearing the bracelets.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "We all have them. I use emeralds to mark the men I don't want others to take."

I was staring at her with my mouth open as she stroked the brush over my thumb nail. "It's not as hard as you might think to get men to wear them," she said shrugging. She didn't seem to notice my shocked expression.

"Do you normally eat those men?" I could feel my throat closing so I swallowed.

"We don't _eat_ anyone." She said and wrinkled her nose. "We feed off them."

"That's lovely," I said with venom in my voice, because I was afraid. "Are you going to _feed_ off me?" I asked.

She snorted. "I tend to lean towards men, and no I'm not going to. That's why you have the bracelets on lass," she said. "No one in their right mind would take you with those on, only someone with a death wish," she muttered the last part as she finished the first coat.

"Someone with a death wish?" I asked, trying to catch her eyes. She looked up at me with utmost seriousness.

"How long have you known Tristan?" she asked me, her eyes searching for an answer.

"A couple of days," I met her eyes fully and she was the first to look away after several seconds.

She looked back up at me after she blinked a couple times, she was smiling. "I can tell why he is keeping you," she said.

"Are you sure he is 'keeping' me?" I asked angrily. I was glaring at the wall behind her. "How many others has he 'kept'," I asked, but I really didn't want to know the answer.

"None," she said confidently.

"How do you know that?" I asked her, turning my eyes back to her.

She smiled. "I've been…friends…with Tristan for over a hundred years."

"Friends?" I asked her, scrutinizing her reaction.

"Yes, _friends_," she said. She was watching me silently for a few seconds. "You haven't slept with him, have you?" she asked quickly, leaning forward and resting her chin in her palm.

My eyes widened in surprise. "No," I said, offended. This vampire woman didn't have any right to be asking that.

"Do you want to know how I can tell?" she asked me. I didn't say anything. "You're not grinning like an idiot, that's how. He's extremely good and quite handsome too, definitely one of the best looking vampires I've ever seen," she said. My suspicions of her idea of _friends_ were confirmed. "You must have some self-restraint no one else in existence possesses."

_What do I say to that?_ I thought, _what do you say to a random vampire you know has slept with your boyfriend?_ I just closed my mouth that was open and leaned back in the chair.

"Here, you are ready for the tips," she said, reaching out for my hands. I held them out silently. She started applying the white polish to the ends of my nails.

"Don't talk much, do you?" she asked, focused on my fingers.

"Normally I do," I said and she nodded as though she was agreeing as she kept her eyes on my nails. "I just don't know what to say to someone I know has slept with him…that's all."

She froze. She slowly tilted her head to look at me, she looked apprehensive. "You didn't think he hadn't slept with anyone, did you?"

"Oh no, he told me when I asked," I said, giving her a small smile.

"You asked?" her eyes were wide. She had forgotten about my nails.

I smiled wider. "Yeah," I said. "He told me sixty."

"Oh there has been more than sixty!" she said with a grin.

"You're lying," I said, my eyes wide and my mouth open.

She grinned and shook her head. "Nope, he's slept with every worthy woman in the coven…at least, maybe even some of Marcus'."

"My god!" I gasped.

"You can't put all the blame on him. Girls tend to drift towards the good fighters and when you are talking about the best fighter you even get competitions." She said with a smile.

"So you're a good fighter?" I asked.

"Yes, I tend to think so," she said with a grin. "How did you guess?" her eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"You said you've been _friends_ for over one hundred years." I explained. "And I'm not stupid I can connect the dots."

"I never thought you were stupid," she said quickly and I smiled wide. I liked her already.

"What do you mean by the best fighter?" I rethought her previous words.

"Tristan," she said and continued on with my nails.

"What?" I asked. "I'll need more of an explanation."

"Okay, I'll spell it out for you; Tristan is the best fighter on our side and in the whole war, savvy?"

"War?" I asked, fascinated. There were so many thoughts running through my mind. _Tristan, best fighter. War? More than sixty? Why hasn't he told me any of this? -- You've only known him for a few days, Aurora._ It felt like so many more though. And he was definitely getting in trouble for lying to me about the sixty thing. _Men!_

"Yes," she said. "There is a war raging between the two groups of covens in Paris. The outcome will decide many things about vampire society and Tristan is second in command on our side."

She was now finished with my nails. "Does Tristan have a cell phone?" I asked after a few minutes of silence while I was thinking over everything that she told me.

"Yes," she said cautiously.

"Would you happen to have his number?" I asked; my face and tone carefully blank.

She reached in her back pocket and handed me a small silver cell phone. "His number is in there."

I took her phone and found his number. It rang only twice before I heard his deep smooth voice answer. "Hello Margaret, I'm busy so I'll have to call you back," was what he said before I could even get in a 'hello'.

"That's not necessary," I said coldly. There was silence from the other end for awhile.

"Aurora?" he asked quietly, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Bingo," I said. Margaret was looking at me nervously, I could tell she was rethinking letting me call him.

"Where are you?" his voice was a little harsher.

"No way," I said.

"Let me talk to Margaret," he said, I could tell he was mad, if not a little frightened.

"No, that's what I'll be doing. I can't believe you! The entire female population of your coven! I'm definitely not going to give you my virginity now!" I said in a deathly quiet whisper. "You sit tight; I'm going to find someone to screw. It shouldn't be that hard to find a man. Do you recommend any clubs?"

There was a loud crash from his end of the phone and a male baritone voice, "Tristan, calm down…"

"Aurora," he said and I blinked. His voice was venomous and I was glad I was far from him at the moment. "Give the phone back to Margaret," he said, each word being said as if he was on the edge of losing control.

"Are you mad at her," I asked, suddenly thinking through my conversation.

"Give her the phone," was his answer. I took that as an affirmative.

I looked up at Margaret and she was staring at the phone I was holding up to my ear as if it was a bomb.

"Not until you calm down," I said.

That didn't seem to be the answer that he wanted because there was another crash and the male voice swore.

"Aurora," his voice scared me. "Give her the god damned phone."

I nodded, as if he could see me and extended my arm with the phone to her. She took it from me delicately, touching the least amount of it possible.

"It's me, Tristan," she said quietly. She cringed away from the phone almost immediately. "Okay, 437 _Caillou_" she said firmly. She repeated 'okay' a couple more times before she swallowed and closed the phone. It snapped together and she slid it into her pocket.

"Are you in trouble?" I asked after several seconds of only the salon's customers talking and the occasional jingle of the door bell.

She nodded. _You idiot Aurora!_ I thought.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I wasn't one to apologize for anything but this time it would be my fault if something happened to her, from my experiences he was a bit violent when angry. "What did he say?"

"That I am to keep you here and he will come in a few minutes," she said. I jumped to my feet.

"What!" I contained a scream.

"We're both in trouble," she said and looked at me. I could see the pity in her eyes and that made me feel even worse.

"Do we have to stay here?" I asked her.

"Do you really want to make him angrier?" she countered.

"Let's go," I said firmly. There was no way I wanted to face Tristan immediately after I said those things. She stood up.

"He's going to kill us," she said with a smile.

"If we stay here I don't want to imagine what he'll do," I said, and she seemed to agree. I put some money on the front counter and we walked out the door.

I got into the car and she jumped in next to me. "He let you drive his baby?" she said.

"I don't know actually. I wasn't supposed to leave unless it was some sort of an emergency," I said and she gawked at me.

"So you went and got a manicure?" she asked.

"Yes, I did," I said, giving her a look that begged her to challenge that.

"Wow," she laughed. "You have guts girl."

I allowed myself a little smile before I peeled out into the lane of traffic. "How many times have you slept with Tristan?" I asked as I sped down the street.

"You don't want to know that answer so why did you ask?" she turned the question around on me.

"Because I need to know," I said simply. "After what you have told me I realize I don't know him at all." I frowned just thinking about it.

"I don't know, quite a few," she said and I didn't push for anything else. She was right, I really didn't want to know what one hundred years equaled.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked quietly.

"We could go back to Victor's," she suggested and I could feel her eyes on me. It was disconcerting. "Tristan will have left."

"Who is Victor?" There was so much I didn't know.

"Victor: leader of the _Spillers de Sang_," she said. "Leader of our side of the battle."

"How do you get there?" I asked, not commenting on the new bit of information but storing it away to assess later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We parked outside a huge house that was half the size of a hotel. It was darker and older than any hotel I had ever seen though. Margaret was the first to get out of the car and I sat in the driver's side for only a few seconds longer. I was telling myself that to walk into a house of vampires was okay. Margaret noticed my hesitation.

"Nobody will hurt you," she said from the steps. "You've got the bracelets and the choker."

However efficient _she_ thought pearls and a ribbon were against a house full of vampires, I still wasn't convinced. I still got out of the car though. As soon as I set foot on the first step Margaret's phone buzzed in her pocket. She froze for a second before she took it out. One look at the screen and she handed it to me.

"Hello?" I asked and set my face for the explosion I knew would come.

"Where are you," it was opposite of an explosion. He seemed to have gotten quieter and that wasn't a good sign from what I could detect of his tone.

"I didn't feel like sitting like a duck waiting for you to kill me so we left," I answered.

"Where are you?" he repeated, quieter.

"I don't think you're going to like that part," I said and I knew he wouldn't. I could almost picture him standing on the street frightening anyone who saw him. He must look murderous right now. "I'll tell you where I am if you don't hurt Margaret or punish her in any way for telling me the truth. It is the truth isn't it…about the whole coven of women?" I asked.

He paused on the other end and that was enough of an answer for me. I sighed and gritted my teeth; I wasn't going to shed a single tear because of his past. That would be ridiculous and childish. I could sense Margaret watching me and that only strengthened my resolve.

"Do you promise?" my voice wasn't quite right so I cleared my throat quietly.

"Yes," came his answer.

"I'm at Victor's," I said and snapped the phone together. He would know what Victor I was talking about. I didn't know anyone from Paris so there weren't many possibilities. I handed the phone back to Margaret and she gave me a small smile.

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_Please review. I will have the next chap up tomorrow I swear! I was going to have this chap up a long time ago like I promised on "like us" but my father came and was like 'you're going to work for me this summer. You're going to learn responsibility and what it's like to actually work for something and…' well I can't remember the rest because that is when I tuned him out and went to Syd's personal la-la land. It was very fun, thanx and I do hope to visit it again some time._

Syd

_mon amour_—my love

_Tentatatrice_—temptress

_Je t'aime, l'Aurore_—I love you, Aurora

_Je connais, Tristan_—I know, Tristan

_Je t'aime_—I love you

_Manucures et Pedicures!_—do I even have to explain this one?

_Mon mon, vous etes joli_—my my you're a pretty one

_Ah, ceux-ci sont beau_!—Oh, these are beautiful

_Merci_—thank you

_Salut_—hey

_Spillers de Sang­_—blood spillers


	7. the room

_Nothing to do with Twilight. My story, My characters, My plot._

_Vampire rules are different._

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"So are you coming in or what?" asked Margaret from further up the steps.

"No," I answered. "He's coming so I suggest you get inside."

"Oh," was her response. There was a few seconds of silence and I could still feel her behind me. "Well, I wanted to introduce you to some people," she said.

'Some people' meant vampires. I was content to sit outside on the step and wait for one big, angry, possibly violent Tristan. There was no reason for me to be an even bigger idiot and introduce myself to a coven. I took Margaret somewhere she might be relatively safe and that's as far as I was willing to go. _Maybe I should even wait in the car?_ I thought. _No, I'm not going submissive and waiting in the passenger's seat, and I don't want to piss him off more and take the driver's seat._

"Oh, come _on,_" Margaret said and I looked up the steps for her. She wasn't there. I turned around and her face was inches from mine. I gasped. "Good, you have some sense of fear. I was starting to think you weren't knowledgeable on _our_ abilities."

"I know what you can do," I answered simply.

"Than you know I can make you go in that house," she said, nodding at the dark manor behind me.

I glared at her. "You wouldn't," I stated, telling her that I would not enjoy it if she did.

"Yes I think I would," she said with a small smile. "Actually the odds are rather good I will. You can either walk in there on your own or I can give you a helping hand."

I stood up and walked through the large old door that the paint was peeling off of. I could feel Margaret beside me and turned to look at her. She gave me a wicked grin so I turned away. She stepped in front of me and started leading the way. I looked around the house I was in.

We walked through the door into a small hallway and Margaret started walking down it. The house was dusty and looked even older on the inside than the crumbling outside. Paintings were on the walls but most were crooked with a layer of dirt on them. This was what I had imagined a vampire house to look like. Not like Tristan's with his dark wood and leather furniture. We turned left and entered a smaller room the hallway seemed to run right through. In this room my eyes got very wide.

On the walls and spread throughout the entire room were guns and swords. In this room nothing was dusty and it looked like things were actually used. That wasn't a comforting thought.

"Margaret?" I asked. She turned around and saw that I had stopped walking.

"This is the weapons room," she said, waving her hand as if displaying it. "Of course, the guns don't actually kill us but they can be used to stall attackers. The swords can harm but not kill. Only a vampire's teeth and hands can take one of us down." She didn't elaborate on that and started walking across the room again. This time I followed.

I heard the sound of laughter up ahead and my feet nearly stopped moving. Margaret reached back without a word or even turning to look at me and took my hand. We entered a large room with large fluffy couches and chairs and in these seats were beautiful pale vampire. I fought not to throw up.

The laughter stopped abruptly when we entered, though they weren't all facing us. The ones who weren't slowly turned around with their heads positioned strangely. I swallowed when I realized they were smelling the air. There were both women and men and I would estimate about 30 of them. They were all spread out throughout the room in little groups or some individuals sat by themselves. I noticed there were quite a few couples. Men sitting back with women on their laps seemed to be a popular theme.

The silence was broken by a man who appeared in his early twenties who had two vampire women on his lap. "Margaret!" he called. "I thought you were interested in men only. But if you choose to turn to women bring more of them home, it seems you have a talent." He stared at me and I felt like hiding behind Margaret. There was a familiar hunger in his eyes.

Laughter filled the room and Margaret joined in. My mind was telling me to run and my heart and legs were fully agreeing.

"I love men still, Victor," Margaret answered him with a devilish smile. "But as you can see, she isn't mine."

She lifted our hands and the bracelet slid down my thin wrist and rested halfway down my forearm. All laughter died away. Victor's eyes widened as well as many others'.

"So this is the girl Tristan destroyed my statue for," he said, pushing the two vampires off his lap and standing up. He started walking over to us and I forced my legs to stay still.

He reached out for my hand and Margaret gave it to him, she almost had to pry my hand off hers but I reluctantly let go.

He was more attractive than most, even as a vampire. He had dark brown hair that was long and curly. He was tall but probably about 6'2" and he was well muscled.

"Tristan has never kept a human before," he said, examining the bracelet. "He definitely chose well." He looked back up at my face.

He reached up a hand and his thumb brushed along my cheekbone as he rested the cool palm against my cheek. His eyes were the same crimson as Tristan's. There was something about them though that wasn't in Tristan's eyes at all. There was a deeper hunger there beyond the glimmer I had seen before and it made me shudder. I stepped back from him and he let my hand go and dropped his own from my cheek.

There were a few seconds of silence before Margaret took my hand and pulled me around Victor. I could still feel his eyes on me as we walked around the room. I looked around me and realized _most_ eyes were following me. Margaret led me over to a circle of vampire women. I couldn't wait until Tristan got here.

"This is Aurora," Margaret introduced me after we sat down. "Aurora this is Emily, Veronica, Eleanor, Constance, Phoebe, Jasmine, and Anne." The women all nodded towards me as their names were called out.

"She hasn't slept with him, has she?" Veronica asked Margaret. _How do they know? Am I wearing a sign?_

"Nope," answered Margaret with a smile in my direction.

"He can't be that good," I stated, looking around at all of them wanting someone to agree with me.

"He is," said Jasmine and the others nodded. _Lovely, all of them have slept with him._

I was just going to have to come to terms with his past. There was nothing he could do to take it back. Somehow that didn't stop me from getting a little angry. Well, more than a little, but I wasn't sure if I was exactly angry with him or these women…or the situation altogether.

"Aurora," someone growled from behind me and my heart almost froze over. I knew who that someone was.

I stood up and turned around to see Tristan a few feet from me looking murderous and absolutely terrifying. I could feel the waves of anger rolling off him. I saw that most vampires had moved from their chairs to safe places beside the wall, giving him a lot of space. That did little for my confidence. I felt Margaret stand up beside me she shoved something into my hand and I didn't look away from Tristan to see what it was.

Tristan normally had the face of an earthbound angel. Now he looked as though anything that got close enough would die from his anger alone. I couldn't help but glare back at him. All the news I had received today came back to the front of my mind.

I continued to glare as I stepped around the couch I had been sitting on and walked past him. I heard him snarl behind me and I saw several vampires jump in my peripheral vision and turned around to glare at him again. He was taken aback but still enraged and he returned my glare.

"Impossible," I muttered darkly.

"I'm impossible?" he said and barked a humorless laugh. "You are the definition of impossible Aurora," he said between gritted teeth.

I scowled at him, knowing it would bother him if I didn't say anything at all.

I turned on my heel and walked out of the main room, without a word to him. I practically jogged the entire hallway. I couldn't feel Tristan behind me; he must have stayed in the room after I left. I ran out the front door and had the Mustang's key out already. I finally looked in my hand at what Margaret had put in it. It was a piece of paper with a French phone number on it. _Her_ number I assumed.

I hopped over the door and into the driver's seat. I turned on the car and peeled out of the driveway. I knew I could find my way back to Tristan's from here and it was probably a good idea if I went straight there.

I pulled up into the driveway and turned the car off. I hoped Tristan had to get a cab. _It would serve him right_, I thought. I walked up the front steps and reached out for the handle. I swung the door open and slammed it shut with all my built-up frustration and turned and locked the dead bolt. I walked into the kitchen to get all the food I had bought. I was going to have a little campout in any room with a big enough lock and hopefully a door Tristan wouldn't break down. I marched into the dining room to grab a glass and dropped all the food I was holding.

Tristan was sitting in a chair he had obviously moved into the room and he had his feet propped up on the table. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was looking straight at me. I could almost see the anger boiling underneath the seemingly casual expression.

"How did you get in?" I asked in a voice that didn't give away any of my surprise and was virtually emotionless.

"I got here first," he said.

I looked him over and was half tempted to let my anger go and forgive him for lying. I loved him; it was hopeless, that only served to make me angrier at my weakness I had developed for him. I forced my feet to go over to the china cupboard. I grabbed one of the blue glasses out of it and walked back over to the food on the floor. I gathered it up in my arms and stomped off towards the stairs. There was a breeze that went by me and made my hair fly up. Tristan was at the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still angry.

"Nothing," I answered.

"It is obvious you are doing something," he stated.

"Really?" I asked with mock curiosity. I reached the top of the steps. "Move."

He didn't move and I could tell he had no intention to. He was always tall but now he was even more-so standing on a step above me, it helped his intimidation factor.

"Why did you go out?" he asked.

That was a question I was hoping to avoid. The answer was something that would be classified as a stupid blonde thing; I loved my hair but I didn't need anything I did to be categorized. Besides, it was something that meant a lot more to me than my nails, it was Vic's and my cure, our tradition almost, when things weren't going right. He wouldn't understand. I turned around and headed back down the stairs. Another breeze went by and I knew when I looked up he would be at the bottom of the stairs. He was.

"Why did you go out?" he asked again.

I set all the food on the steps; it was unlikely he was going to allow me to get to a room. I was going to get by him though, not be stuck on these step until I answered. It seemed almost impossible but I checked both sides of him. He had his hand on the wall and the other hand on the banister. There was just enough room for a scrawny girl like me to duck through. I did.

Tristan had inhuman reflexes though and he turned around quickly and grabbed my ankle. I went sprawling on the floor and flipped over on my back and saw he was on his knees. I pulled my leg away hard but it really did me no good. I wasn't one to give up though and pulled harder.

"Let me go," I practically growled through my clenched jaw.

"I don't think so," he said calmly and that only fueled my anger.

He pulled me towards him and I put my palms on the floor, trying to stay far away from him, even if he had hold of my ankle. He wasn't phased at all by my attempts and soon I was pinned under him on the cold hard floor.

"I know why I'm angry but you're being irrational," he growled. "I didn't even know you existed until a couple days ago and yet you are begrudging me for two hundred years of relationships."

I attempted to knee his groin. His shifted his weight so his legs pinned mine down as well.

"That's not even the point. I shouldn't even have to explain this to you," he said, sounding exasperated. "You need to explain things to me; why did you leave the house?"

I moved my wrist around in his vice-like hand and flipped him off. He rolled his eyes.

"Do you think I'm some sort of animal?" I asked him quietly but with a lot of spite. I could be feeling hurt but no one besides myself was ever going to know that. "Do you think I'm going to sit here and rot away in this house? I have been making my own decisions and living by my own rules since I was 12 years old, Tristan. No one is going to change that."

"What do you mean? Making your own decisions since you were 12?" he asked, curiosity matching his anger.

I turned my face to the side, letting the cool smooth wood cool my cheek. I didn't want to discuss the finer points of my past with him. If he didn't feel like confiding his own life I felt no obligation to show him that trust. Even Victoria got an edited version when she asked about my childhood.

What I felt for Tristan was strong raw feelings. They could be developed but that would take time to earn trust and respect for each other. We couldn't develop that bond with one person pinning the other to the floor. I knew we were both short tempered, that was obvious. When I looked at him I saw the same undisciplined fire I knew resided in me.

I sighed. "Why did you lie?" I let the anger go, there was no point to yell and scream at him.

He didn't say anything so I turned my head so I could look up at him. He wasn't looking at me now; he had turned his attention to the graining of the wood floor.

"Maybe we should talk," he suggested.

"You're going to have to get off me first, I'm not talking to you like this," I said, pushing my wrists up against his hands and showing him I couldn't move.

His devilish grin returned and I figured it was probably the first time he had smiled since I called him on Margaret's phone. I felt a little bad about that.

"I like this position," he whispered, looking at my lips.

"I thought we were going to talk," I said helplessly, biting my bottom lip to dissuade him.

He sighed and his grin faded. He did a push up and was instantly standing over me, holding out his hand. He pulled me to my feet and led me into a room with more leather chairs. He sat down in one and pulled me into his lap.

I sighed as well. Today was mentally exhausting; I was ready to sleep and it was only early afternoon. We sat there in silence for a couple minutes; my head resting on his chest and his hand moving up and down my arm softly.

"How many people have you told you loved them?" Tristan asked quietly.

"Are we including my parents and friends?" I asked.

"No, Aurora," he said slowly and paused before continuing. "I want to know how many men you have told you loved them."

"One so far," I said with a small smile and then my tone went serious. "It's isn't something you say unless you mean it."

This seemed to be the answer he wanted because he briefly held me tighter. "So I am the only man you have ever loved?" he asked.

"Yes," I sighed.

"Thank you," he whispered in my ear, his cold breath making me shiver. He laughed softly, his arms coming around my stomach and pulling me tight.

"How many have you told?" I asked, prepping myself for disappointment.

"You," he kissed my neck. "and only you."

The smile spread across my lips slowly and I couldn't have stopped it if I had wanted to.

"Are your parents worried about you?" he asked and there was pain in his voice.

"No," I answered softly, smile fading.

He stiffened behind me. "Why would they not be worried?" he asked, confusion obvious.

"They died in a car accident when I was 11," I answered, closing my eyes. My practiced tone was impassive.

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

I sat up straight and pushed his hands away. I started to stand up but he pulled me back down. His hand grabbed my chin and he turned my head and body around to face him. His brow was furrowed in confusion and his eyes concerned. I jerked my face out of his hand and started to stand up again only to be denied.

I was too vulnerable around him to talk about my parents. I had not really cried since the day after I heard the news from my aunt and that wasn't about to change. I had shed tears but no self-pitying noise would ever again escape my lips. I had grown used to the hell that was my mind and he would have me spilling my guts and releasing the emotional flood.

"You don't have to answer that," he said quickly.

I took a few deep breaths through my nose and stopped my struggle. I nodded, keeping my eyes away from his questioning ones.

"What happened after they died?" he asked tentatively. He was still holding my hips firmly, prepared for another escape attempt.

I shrugged. "I went to live with my aunt and in a year she shipped me off to Maryland. I went to Berkley Boarding School, made some friends, had a few laughs and came to Paris," I said simply. The _extremely_ edited version, devoid of any details.

"What did you do for fun?" he asked, oddly interested.

That was another question I didn't want to answer, but not because it would cause an emotional upheaval on my part. I glanced at him nervously. _Should I mention there was a neighboring all-boys school—considering that was the source of most of my 'fun'?_ He noticed my glance.

"What?" he asked with an evil smile. "You can't have done something bad now could you?" He gave me a look that clearly stated he thought I had but was amused by it.

"I drank a bit of course…" I started but left it hanging.

"Is that all?" he asked after awhile. He looked a tad bit disappointed in me.

"Yep," I said, too quickly.

"You're lying," he stated, his face going blank.

"Like you haven't lied to me?" I asked, desperate to turn the conversation. He recognized what I was trying to do and decided to persist.

"Did you do drugs?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes," I sighed. _No._

"Had you done anything with men," he asked. _Shit…_

I tried to stand up again. That didn't work. After a few moments of pointless struggling on my part and mounting suspicion on his face, I stopped. I opened my mouth to change the subject but he cut me off.

"Don't lie," he said with a hard look on his angelic features. "I'll know."

"I doubt it. I'm very good," I said with a wicked grin of my own. _He's going to ask me what I've done with boys anyway, might as well correct him,_ I thought. "I lied to you about doing drugs. I've never done them, there are different types of highs I find more enjoyable." I winked at him.

He looked at me for a few seconds before nodding. "So, what had you done with men?" he asked again. He looked a little more serious this time.

"Camion Boys Academy was a neighboring school and my best friend Victoria and I were very good at sneaking out," I started, smiling at memories. It felt like those times were a completely different world. We were so young and wild. Victoria was wilder but I was only a step or two behind her in everything she did. She never pressured me into anything; I was always willingly beside her…always.

"Which one was Victoria?" he asked softly, rubbing my back briefly.

I turned to him with a smile. _Remember the good times,_ I told myself. _It only hurts if you remember the end of the fairytale._

I laughed shakily as my own saying come to mind: _'There are no happy endings. The stories with happy endings haven't truly ended yet'_.

Somebody always dies first. _Who died first in _Snow White _Was it the Prince or Snow White? Did Snow White watch the one she loved die or was it her who left the Prince to suffer?_

"She was the one with pink hair," I said in hollow tones. My smile was still in place like it should be but I knew there was no warmth to it.

"You snuck out often?" he asked, not commenting on my behavior.

"Since the day Vic turned 13," I said, a true smile coming now. "That was a fun night."

"What did you do?" he asked as I rested my head back on his chest. His arms encircled me around the middle and I felt safe there. Although, one more question about my feelings and I was going to punch him.

"That was the first night I got completely drunk," I said. "Whiskey… it burned and made a fizzing noise in your mouth. It was terrible, but we kept drinking it for some god-forsaken reason. And, well, that was a night for a lot of firsts. Victoria slept with Miles and I kissed Johny."

I felt him stiffen but he relaxed quickly.

"Your best friend had sex when she was 13?" he asked slowly, every word coming out between pauses.

"Yeah," I said another smile coming to my face. "She was reckless and carefree in every way. She didn't think after she did something and _never_ considered consequences… that was because I was always there to get her out. I wasn't kidding when I said I was a good liar. I could come up with alibis on the spot and the best ways to pretend you're sober. You couldn't find two people in the dean's office more than us."

"I find it hard to believe you haven't had sex," he stated, grumbling as if he was annoyed. "You're very… attractive and if I was anywhere near you when you were intoxicated…well most men would…" he trailed off, flustered.

"I'm a tease," I said seriously. I was always in denial about any danger I could be in as Vic often told me. "You're not speaking with Miss Innocent, most boys are satisfied and don't try to go for the whole thing after I'm done. There are certain idiots who try but Vic was like a bodyguard for me. One wrong move and she almost insured them they wouldn't have children," I laughed.

He flipped me around and looked me in the eye. He was angry again; he looked very beautiful, even when he was mad. His dark blonde hair was falling into his eyes that were set in the young 19 year old face. _Damn…_

"What _exactly_ have you done?" he was serious this time, no round-about stories.

"Making out, hand jobs, up the shirt, down the pants," I said quickly. "I respected my body enough not to have sex like all my friends."

"Barely," he said.

He glared at me and I could tell he was getting jealous. His quick temper was going to kick in any second.

"You have had sex with an entire coven of women so you can't hold that against me," I said, my eyes daring him to deny it.

"Aurora," he growled. "I'm over two hundred years old, I can do that. You're only sixteen, you're just a…" He stopped himself but I could tell what he was going to say.

"I am not a child," I said, I stood up too fast for him to stop me. I was backing away from him. "I have raised myself since I was 12 years old and I have sat through my parent's funerals." I screamed the last part, pointing in the air. "I watched my best friends, the only people I had left, get murdered."

The tears were flowing now and I couldn't stop them. Tristan was looking at me and he realized his mistake, he stood up and I backed farther away motioning that I didn't want him anywhere near me. "Do not _ever_ call me a child," I whispered and walked out the room.

I stormed out of the room and walked into a different one. When I looked up my throat closed and I couldn't breathe. This was the room. My back slammed up against the wall and I slid down it silently. My eyes were wide and fixed on the couch. The tears had stopped and my body had started shaking. My chest felt constricted and when I finally drew in a breath it was gasped and strained.

"No," I gasped.

"Aurora, I…" Tristan said as he walked into the room.

His eyes were wide and they darted to me. He dropped down and scooped me up in his arms and ran out of the room.

The image of Victoria dieing was fixed in my mind. It broke the part of me that was fighting to keep it out. When I looked up I saw that couch, but no Victoria. My friends perished in a room of the house I was living in…

_Please Review! I know this was kind of a depressing chapter and there wont be anymore of these I don't think. Well, Aurora finally is dealing with the emotions she has repressed for awhile. She is going to have to learn to cope and when she does the relationship with her and Tristan will get **much** stronger._

_Syd_


	8. paranoid

**Everyone! This may be the last chapter posted on Fanfiction! _Maybe…_**

I know, I know, but don't freak out. If I continue posting the story on here and I ever decide to change a couple things and try to get it published. _Try_ being the key word. It will be difficult because the story was published under this website and they will have certain rights to it that I can't over step.

If you send me a review or a private message (from my profile) and include your email address I will send them to you. If you don't have a fanfiction account to send me a review, here is my email address I set up for the sole purpose of this story's circulation. Use common sense when it comes to the words that should be symbols.

twieveluv(at)yahoo(dot)com I'll send the chaps out to 300 people if you want.

No spaces or caps. Oh yeah, and if you are one of the people who I email the chaps to I would like some of you to volunteer to be helpers, you better be prepared to give me some long reviews cuz you all will be my advisers and critiques and if the book _does_ get published you will be on the acknowledgements for sure. This is going to be handled like business instead of just enjoyment so be prepared, you're going to be like slave labor cuz I can't pay you. I don't have any money.

Think of this as a free book and for some of you a side job of beta-like people.

_Nothing to do with Twilight. My story, My characters, My plot._

_Vampire rules are different._

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**Tristan's point of view (but not completely, it's more like 3rd person). These will happen every few chapters. It's kind of an experiment also to see if this is how I should write the whole story. **

Aurora held onto him in a way he never thought she would. Her cold, yet headstrong demeanor had vanished and fallen away to leave a desperate and lost young woman with silent tears rolling down her face. He looked down at her head resting on his chest and her eyes were shut as she was trying to stem the flow of tears. He wished she wouldn't. He was desperate in his own way. He was desperate to be closer to Aurora.

She had not been the frightened youth he would have suspected her to be in the face of her friends' murder. It was at that point he knew he could not let her die. And now she was having a repercussion of the night's events.

She had amazed him when she embraced her fate and tilted her head for his easy access to her neck. She was brave, however foolish. He grimaced at the memory of her standing like a beacon among his fellow vampires earlier that day. Known killers. Foolish didn't even cover it. She was so unlike them though, her features looked strangely different. A different beauty. Not as stunning, gaudy and vivacious as most vampire woman, but softer, more angelic.

He was walking slowly up the stairs and saw she almost had the tears stopped, though a few were still falling from her eyes. He could picture her eyes perfectly, every detail in place. They were a strange blue. Her eyes were not pure like sapphires nor did they have ripples of gray cutting through the iris. They were dark though, not the light clear blue of the sky but like the darkness of the ocean at its deepest.

His imagination came up with several descriptions of her eyes when he lay beside her sleeping form during the night.

The closest he came to a satisfactory conclusion was moonlight. The rare occasion when the moon was a beep blue shining down on the earth and the beams illuminated the dark silver clouds.

He reached his room and paused before the door. He looked down at Aurora again and saw a fresh flood was running down her face and her jaw was clenched in an effort to stop it.

"You can cry, you are only human Aurora," he said softly. He would savor the opportunity to watch her walls come down. He could sense she was very similar to him in this respect—walls didn't come down often, or in his case never. Never before he met the girl with stronger walls than a fortress. Yet apparently, not strong enough.

He shifted her slightly and twisted the handle on the door and swung it open. Aurora jumped a little in his arms at the sound. He chuckled. Even in her most incomprehensible state she wasn't delighted to be going into a bedroom with him. He knew she was afraid, but he didn't _want_ her to be.

"_Ma colombe_," he sighed. "Speak to me." Just to hear her voice would be reassuring.

Tristan walked over and laid her down on her side of the bed. It was, in his mind, now her side since no one else was ever going to be sleeping there. She didn't protest or squirm when he got in beside her. He let her get used to the weight of his body on the bed before he wrapped his arms around her. _That_ she did protest to. The tears had almost stopped again and now came the anger. He didn't know if she was angry with him because of her friends' deaths or because she had cried. _Most likely both,_ he thought.

She pushed and pulled but he only tightened his hold. He didn't say anything when she stopped struggling, he just let her calm down before speaking again.

It was several minutes before he opened his mouth to do so, but she started talking.

"I think Madame Charmon was fired," she said quietly. Tristan closed his mouth and waited for the rest.

"The volleyball team is going to be slaughtered without Jordan."

He didn't know what she was talking about, but to him, that was unimportant. She was opening up, only bare facts, no details but this was his chance to see into her world and he wasn't going to interrupt.

"The girls at school will have to find others to pitifully worship," she laughed shakily at this and it made him smile. She could still laugh, that was a good sign to him, but also a bad one. He sensed the laughter was forced. "All the boys will drop out of tango class. … They probably had some sort of memorial service for all of us…" she whispered. "Where are their bodies?"

Tristan knew she would eventually ask this so he buried them instead of the traditional burning. "They are in a small cemetery on the outside of the city," he said quietly into her hair and hugged her even closer when she took in a shaky breath.

The night he met her he had buried the bodies of her friends and dumped the remains of his comrades in the river, after his shower. He followed the strong smell of her and her friends through town and happened upon a hotel. He followed the smell to a huge room and easily broke off the electric lock. He went inside and looked at the suitcases. He couldn't differentiate which belonged to the blonde girl in his house so he brought all of them back with him. The whole trip took 35 minutes in all and he came back to discover her asleep. He watched her restlessly toss and turn with unease. She didn't know that she had stopped turning when he took the first kiss they'd ever shared.

He couldn't help himself. A beautiful and soft creation was sleeping in front of him and he had to touch her, to be close to her. His need to keep her safe and protect her was foreign to him but he wanted to follow that instinct. An instinct he didn't think was possible from a killer of thousands. An instinct he had never even wanted until a small brave human more radiant than her namesake came into his house.

He had touched her soft rosy lips to his cold ones and life reclaimed his body. It was amazing, this new feeling, and he wanted to explore it. She had stopped her restlessness and he slowly pulled the sheet away from her and saw she had only removed her shoes. He was a little disappointed but it was probably good she had, otherwise he would have been sure to wake her up with a bit more forceful kiss. He slowly picked up her arm and drew her wrist to his mouth. He kissed the light skin covering the thin blue veins and once again life shot through him. It was a new form of ecstasy not known to man and he had no intention of letting others discover it. He planted kisses up her arm and to the edge of her halter top. He kissed across her collar bone and only stopped when she shifted slightly in her sleep and moaned. He smiled up at her face, he liked the sound she made, he could easily get used to it.

The urge to wake her up was great but he didn't know how she would react to him and he didn't want to have to leave her side. Not that he would let her have a choice, really. But a small part of him still wanted this human to _choose_ to be close to him. A more dominant part assured him that she was what he wanted, and he had always done what he wanted. _Of course,_ he argued with himself,_ that usually ends with someone dying._ He didn't want her to die. The feelings he got from touching her were amazing and he wanted that to continue.

The next morning, to his great dismay, she tried to kill herself. Tristan remembered being angry at the very thought of someone taking this new sensation away from him, even if it was herself. He had thought of her as a possession then, not as another rational creature. Vampires did not usually consider their destined prey, humans, to be anything other than a resource.

Tristan quickly changed his mind about that. When she had willingly touched his face he knew he would do anything to keep this new way of life, anything to have her touch him. The rush that ripped through his body was staggering and he wanted her to touch more of him. He wanted to crush her body to his and absorb her warmth, but he thought that would be a little extreme and might frighten her.

And now, well now she was in his arms crying because of something he could have prevented. He wished he had, for her sake. But it hadn't occurred to him that she might be close to them. He had preferred to be on his own ever since his mentor's death. He had been surrounded by others all his vampiric life but none of them had ever gotten close to him in over 200 years like this girl had in a few minutes. He should have known she would have a bond with her fellow human companions but it was not the way his mind worked.

She continued on talking about things he didn't understand and some he did. He asked random questions throughout her spiel about her age and school. It was good to hear her voice. Eventually it got softer--speaking about something she and her parents did when she was a child--and she fell asleep.

Tristan woke her hours later. He had to, night had just fallen and he needed to feed.

"Aurora," he whispered.

"Hmm," she moaned.

Tristan couldn't stop the smile that covered his face. He pushed himself up and crawled over her carefully, the bed groaning in protest. He kneeled down on the wooden floor beside the bed and brushed her long hair out of her face.

"Aurora," he repeated, louder this time.

She clamped her eyes shut. "Huh uh," she breathed.

"Wake up," he said softly.

"No," she said, very clearly, and attempted to roll over with a huff.

Tristan reached out and grabbed her hip, not allowing her to turn. She opened her eyes then and gave him an annoyed look. His smile grew wider. Only she could do such things to him.

"I have to go out," he whispered. "Stay here." His tone made it perfectly clear there were no options for her. She had to stay put, now that it was dark.

"Fine," she sighed. "Where are you going?" She rolled over onto her back but kept her face turned to him, letting her hair splay out on the pillow.

"Into the city," he answered with a small smile for her benefit. It was the truth; he was going into Paris.

He saw the questioning look in her eyes but she didn't ask. She probably already knew.

"Will you be fine when I leave?" he asked.

He already knew she would be, but he had to ask. She had gone several days without crying for her friends. Even though she needed to. Maybe now she would stop trying to kill herself, he hoped. Going to Victor's home was an indirect form of suicide, even if she didn't realize it.

"Yes," she answered tonelessly. He stood up beside the bed.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. She turned her face so he could reach her lips. She was smiling as their lips met and he enjoyed the feeling under his. Her hands reached up and encircled his neck and she started pulling him on top of her.

"Aurora," he said as he pulled his lips from hers.

He was too thirsty and she started becoming tempting in more than a healthy way. He pressed his forehead to hers watching her eyes come back into focus.

"I have to go now," he said, reaching up and untangling her arms from around his neck. "Promise me you will stay in the house."

"Yes, sir" she said, rolling her eyes.

"This is no time for stupidity, stay put," he said.

"Don't say it like that," she glared at him. "When you say it like that it sounds like an order. It only makes me want to defy it."

He growled, but in a playful way… or so he thought. He grinned down at her when her eyes got wide with a hint of fear. She saw the grin and punched his shoulder.

He didn't even blink at the impact but Aurora's jaw dropped and she looked at her knuckles.

"Ow," she gasped in surprise and threw Tristan a dirty look.

He restrained a smile though by the increasingly penetrating glare he knew she noticed it. He leaned down again and kissed her forehead.

"Goodbye," he murmured against her soft skin and left the room in a fashion that Aurora's human eyes could not compute.

He reached the red light district of Paris quickly and set out to make his hunt even quicker. A woman walked by his position of leaning nonchalantly on the brick wall of the entrance to an underground club. She eyed him the same as every human female. He gave her a suggestive smile and she quickly left her original path and stepped towards him.

She was beautiful. Only the attractive ones ever approached him, others blush crimson and duck out of his line of sight. It was always amusing to him to see how much more cocky the attractive women are. It eventually killed them. He remembered when he was still human and the women were brought up to be modest and shy. It would be mildly refreshing to him if they still were.

The woman approaching him had added a slight sway to her hips. Her hair was shoulder length and wavy and dark. Her eyes were fixated on the prize. Little did she know that the prize was planning her murder. He smiled ruefully as she stood in front of him. He shrugged off the wall and he could hear her heart flutter. His hand came up and brushed away her short hair from her neck. He inspected the tan curve of it with a look the woman mistook for longing. He placed his hand on her neck and pulled her closer. Her breath caught.

"_Partons quelque part_," he whispered. He was surprised she could hear him over the sound of her own heart, but she nodded.

He locked his gaze on hers and led her both with his hand and eyes into a small dark alley. It wasn't really that dark, considering where they were, there were many lights still flashing across their faces, changing the tint of their skin to pink, green, blue even.

He looked away from her to assess his surroundings. He saw an old metal door leading into a deserted part of the building he had been leaning on. Right above the underground club. Perfect.

It was locked of course but all he had to do was turn the knob a little harder than a human could and the lock broke and the handle dented. He opened the door for her and she walked in without hesitation. Once again he thought of his human life and how much humans had changed. When he was truly alive, women would never be left alone with a man, let alone _go_ _into_ a deserted building in the middle of the night. This was just too easy.

She let out a low giggle as he came up behind her. He spun her around and gave her a smile she wouldn't forget. He leaned down and placed his lips on her neck. She sighed and he sank his now razor sharp teeth into the giving flesh. She laughed again.

He knew the sensation that was taking her… from experience. A pleasant buzz was filling her ears and a tingling rush was originating from the place his teeth had sunk in and spreading to her limbs. She was becoming more relaxed now and he was supporting most of her weight. Minutes later she had lost too much blood to even be considered living, but her heart was still beating. It was necessary to drink most of her blood, at least to the point where her heart stopped beating, because if he didn't, she could turn into one of them. If he withdrew his teeth while her heart was still beating it could move the vampiric virus throughout her blood stream. With the desired result of turning into a murdering superhuman.

Her heart stopped beating. She had long ago stopped breathing.

Tristan lowered the still body to the wood floor, there was still music from the club below pounding through the building. He lingered over the body, watching the healing power of his own saliva, if you could call it saliva, healing her skin where his teeth had penetrated. Tristan couldn't tear his eyes away from the woman on the floor. She was probably only in her early twenties and there were similarities between her and Aurora. The very thought made him almost sick to his stomach. Almost, because, of course, vampires can't be sick. But he was as close to sick as one of the _frozen_ could be.

Her cheekbones were similar, high but not prominent. Her eyes were big and her lashes were long and dark. Those little things sent him over the edge. He ran. He didn't know where he was going until he broke down his own bedroom door, practically ripping it off the hinges.

"Oh my God!" Aurora exclaimed as Tristan swooped down on her and lifted her into the air.

He was holding her in a bone-crushing hug. In his head he was whispering a prayer of thanks she was there. He didn't kill her, she was still alive. She wasn't the girl he used in the abandoned space above the club.

"Tristan?" she gasped.

He backed her into a wall and rested his knee on the wall between her legs so she could stay level with him. He started kissing her and all went down hill. A tear sprang from his eye silently, the first time he had cried since the death of his mentor and father figure Nicodemus.

"What's wrong?" Aurora asked when she pulled away for air. He still hadn't said anything.

Aurora saw the tear on his cheek and her eyes widened. She cupped his face in her hands and he closed his eyes.

His dark blonde hair falling over a seemingly 19 year old face. She studied him as he breathed, not answering her. His eyebrows were perfectly arched and a light brown, his lashes long and dark, his eyes weren't as large as her own but they were more angled. His cheekbones were high and his jaw strong creating hollow cheeks. His hair was another thing that made him look younger than twenty, because his body sure didn't. It was too long, but perfect nonetheless and he seemed to jerk his head, subconsciously, every few minutes to get it out of his aqua eyes. (yeah, his eye color is going to be aqua from now on because the red eye thing is a Stephenie Meyer creation and if this is gonna be published, we can't have those) His skin was smooth and flawless and pale, but not so pale that it was unnatural.

"Forgive me," he voice was as smooth and deep as always but his tone was different. Sad.

"Always," she whispered with a small smile.

"Make me forget," he said, finally opening his eyes. "Make me forget what I am."

"You're everything I have ever wanted," she said. "You need to remember that… not forget it."

He pulled away from her grimacing. "I'm a monster Aurora, you don't want that."

She gave him a wide toothy smile and reached out to him and pulled him closer. "I've never wanted anything more than I want this monster."

He just looked at her as she brought her lips up to his. Aurora felt him tense and slowly relax as she deepened it. When they finally pulled away both were panting.

"I don't deserve you," he murmured into her neck.

"Well, that's a shame," she said as she tried to breathe properly. "Because you're the only one who gets to have me…oh," she broke off as a hand slipped up the t-shirt she was wearing. Panic was starting to take over as he heaved off the wall, taking her with him.

"Stop," she breathed, her gaze fixed on his king sized destination.

"You," he said, pulling away from her neck. "Are paranoid."

She rolled her eyes to disguise her hesitancy. He turned around so his back hit the bed and she was merely jostled on top of him. He gave her a wide teeth-shining smile when her breath caught.

"See?" he said, gesturing with his chin his properly placed hands, outside of any clothing. "Paranoid."

She soon went back to sleep beside him and Tristan propped himself up on an elbow to watch her. He couldn't explain the tiny relief he felt each time her chest rose as she took in a breath.

He couldn't avoid comparing her to the girl in the abandoned room. With a deep sigh in an attempt to delete the images from his memory he pulled Aurora closer and tucked her head under his chin. She mumbled something unintelligible as he closed his eyes to further assist the battle to erase the night's events.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair.

Email me for the next chapter. twieveluv(at)yahoo(dot)com

_Ma colombe—_my dove, as in the bird

_Partons quelque part_—Let's go somewhere


	9. half a chap

Chapter Nine is already written. Email me at twieveluv(at)yahoo(dot)com to get it.

Thank you.

Syd

Email me!

twieveluv(at)yahoo(dot)com

Here is a little section of chapter nine for you as motivation. This is 6 out of 12 pages that have been written.

I woke up the next morning next to a seemingly sleeping Tristan. I didn't think he was _really _sleeping but decided I wouldn't 'wake' him anyway. So as quietly as I could I rolled off the bed.

"Where are you going?" his voice caught me at the door.

I shrugged and looked over my shoulder to wink. I swallowed. There couldn't be a more beautiful picture than Tristan, bare-chested, propped up on his elbows with the sheet covering his shorts so it appeared he wasn't wearing anything at all. He seemed to know where my thoughts had gone because he gave me a wide toothy grin.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" he asked in a teasing tone.

I forced my foot up off the ground and stepped into the hall.

I headed down the hallway to my old room and into the bathroom.

I took a relaxing shower, feeling no need to scorch or freeze myself for once since the day I moved in with my Aunt Collie. The water came over me and I felt refreshed and cleansed. Sadness gripped my heart as I thought of my friends. I still missed them, I would always miss them. But now I was not alone in this world. Not anymore. Tristan was here. It felt so good to tell someone else trivial parts of my past. I shared the burden of my mind with him yesterday as I cried. If only he could do the same for me.

I assumed he went out to feed last night, even though he didn't mention it. He physically and emotionally distanced himself before he left and that was when I knew. Remorse for whoever died last night took another toll on my heart. I felt guilty in some way. I was in love with a man who took lives. Took loved ones away. I hadn't tried to stop him last night and as a human being I should have.

I sighed as I turned off the shower and grabbed a plush towel. Securing it tightly around my body I stepped up to the counter and sink. I grabbed my facial cleanser and washed away the make up and dried tears the shower had missed.

I applied only water proof mascara today though. I looked in the mirror at my reflection. My eyes looked less hollow, more alive and bright and my skin wasn't as ivory as it had been. The sun had taken its subtle toll and brought a golden glow to my features. I sighed, of course with a tan came my freckles. They ran along the bridge of my nose and under my eyes but thank god they didn't spread out from there.

I guess I could understand why people would consider me attractive. I had a nice figure and long lean legs. I was more stacked in the chest department than Victoria but I was only a 34 B. But now I know that no one can truly be as attractive as the person you're in love with. No one would ever compare to Tristan in my eyes. Yeah, yeah, I know, Tristan could be a super model. A pretty successful one I'd reckon, but he had a different light about him that I couldn't see for anyone else. Any other just as physically good-looking guy could never compare.

If everyone knew how much more attractive love was they wouldn't even glance at me, they'd probably still glance at Tristan, because they would be searching for their one-and-only. I was just thrilled I had found mine. And he had stayed by my side as I cried my eyes out yesterday.

Feeling fully uplifted like I hadn't since I was eleven I walked into my old bedroom.

"Why do you own this?" Tristan said, giving me one of those looks I can't decipher.

He was standing by my suitcase holding up a pink lacey thong.

"Ohmygod!" I yelled as my hand flew to the top of the towel I was wrapped in. "Drop that!"

He did and it fell back into the suitcase on top of all my other bras and underwear, that I didn't remember being at the surface of my clothes as I dug through them yesterday.

"You're going through my suitcases," I accused giving him a hard look.

The blissful feeling I had in the bathroom was dissolving. Oh, it was still there but other emotions were taking over. I was standing there with only a towel on and my hair still dripping. If I didn't have so much hair it wouldn't have been a big deal but since I did there was a nice little puddle forming behind me. When I tried to step back into the bathroom, upon realizing this, I almost tripped. Luckily I caught myself on the doorframe.

I was about to tell him to leave as his eyes raked over the towel I was wearing but the smile he gave me only caught the words in my throat. I shut my mouth and glared. That was about all I could do.

"Get dressed," he said, his eyes gleaming with something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

He turned on his heel but didn't take one step towards the door. He just stood there with his back to me. Apparently he thought he was going to stay in the room.

"Aren't you going to go?" I asked jokingly. (Yes, real word)

"No," was his solid answer.

Dropping the pretense I said, "Yeah you are."

"Think of it as a test of trust," he said casually. "Do you trust me enough to believe I won't turn around?"

I begrudgingly admitted to myself that I did trust him. I was in love with him. He could ask for my life and I would hand it over in a cookie tin.

I sighed and shrugged off the towel. For added measure I threw it at his head. To my immense satisfaction I hit my blond target. He pulled it off its landing place around his neck and threw it at me over his shoulder. He threw it a bit harder than I did and it made me take a step back. I threw it back at him with added force.

I was too flustered to aim especially well so the heavy towel hit his shoulder.

He growled. "Do you want to make this harder for me?" He asked in a low voice. "Put on clothes before I lose my conviction."

That was enough motivation for me. I reached down and selected the undergarment he had been holding up and a bra. I slipped into my $120 dollar Abercrombie & Fitch jeans that boys like to rag on. The kind with artistic and attractive holes and an antique tinge and some paint splatters. The whole 'I can't believe you spent that much on those pants. I could do the same thing to new jeans that would only cost me $10' conversation bored me to death. When you hear completely pointless discussions enough times you just start avoiding the people who start them. Namely: really old people, relatives and hicks.

I felt a surge of old me as I slid on a white Express t-shirt instead of a black one from Victoria's bag. I twisted my hair into a curly wet messy bun pulling out the hair that formed my side-part bangs and some loose strands around my ears.

"Okay," I said slipping on some turquoise stilettos from one of my suitcases. Shoes, my one and only addiction. Well maybe not my only…

He turned around. His eyes focused on a particularly big hole on my right thigh.

"What did you do?" he asked with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked defensively. This was one of my favorite outfits.

"Did you get in a motorcycle accident?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

I sighed loudly. He was one of them. Another fashion deprived male.

I looked him over. He had on a dark gray thermal shirt with the sleeves pushed up revealing sleek forearms. He had on jeans that were a light faded blue. He definitely looked good, that was undeniable. He was dressed practically, just like I liked guys to be. I almost laughed imagining what his expression would be to the boys back home with their gelled hair and pink striped dress shirts with their white shell and metal necklaces. The kind Jenny jumped all over for.

He caught my expression. "What?"

I sighed and walked past him with a secretive smile. "So, what are we going to do today?" I asked hopefully. I brushed my long bangs out of my eye.

His eyes followed the movement and narrowed. I searched my hand for whatever he was looking at and stared at my manicured nails.

"Shoot," I said under my breath as I stuffed my hands into my back pockets.

"Do you want to go out?" I asked quickly.

He was momentarily side tracked. "Where would you like to go?"

I shrugged. "Anywhere…" I said graciously. If I could get on his good side maybe the manicure wouldn't come as such a blow.

"Fine," he said and fixed his gaze on my wrists that connected to my hidden hands. "Can I see your hands?" he asked. His tone wasn't accusing but innocent. Too innocent. He was trying to put me at ease but it didn't work. I liked arguing more than this calm stuff. I could hold my own with an angry Tristan. An innocent one was way beyond my field of play.

"Why?" I asked calmly.

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"I don't know," I said. "You've never asked to see them before. I'm just curious as to why."

"You've never hidden your hands in your pockets before," he countered.

"I was cold," I said with a shrug.

"Aurora," he started. "Let me see you hands. Now."

I sighed and pulled them out of my pockets.

"Your nails are very attractive," he said in a quiet voice. "How did they get that way?"

"Margaret did them for me," I said. That apparently wasn't a good answer. His eyes narrowed and his mouth became thinner.

"How did you meet her?" Tristan asked in a seemingly calm voice, but it was hard, void of emotion.

"She came into the salon," I said firmly. "And those bracelets were a dead give away." I was still miffed at being branded.


End file.
